The Central Election Commission has decided to recount votes for candidates across all of Kosovo. In addition to the recount in 28 other municipalities, the mandate of political party representatives in the Municipal Election Commission in the municipality of Prizren has been suspended.
This decision came after the manipulation of votes, which was confirmed by the recount of candidate votes in 10 municipalities of Kosovo.
At the meeting of the Election Operations Council, it was recommended to recount all polling stations in the 28 additional municipalities and to suspend the mandate of political party representatives in the Municipal Election Commission in Prizren.
This was stated by CEC Chair Kreshnik Radoniqi, who said that the findings will be forwarded to the State Prosecutor’s Office.
“Today, prior to the CEC meeting, this report was discussed at the meeting of the Election Operations Council, from which two main recommendations emerged: the recount of all polling stations in the 28 additional municipalities; and the suspension of the mandate of political party representatives in the Municipal Election Commission in the municipality of Prizren. Finally, on behalf of the CEC, we reiterate that the findings from the recount process will be submitted to the State Prosecutor’s Office, and at the same time we offer full institutional cooperation in the investigation process,” Radoniqi said.
He added that the recount of votes in 10 municipalities is currently underway.
Regarding the changes in the number of candidate votes after the recount, Radoniqi said that it shows the vote-counting process for candidates within political parties contained inaccuracies.
“The change in the number of candidate votes after the recount indicates that the vote-counting process for candidates within political parties contained inaccuracies. Numerical analysis highlights the municipality of Prizren as the most extreme case. After the recount in the Counting and Results Center (QNR) of Prizren, 29,343 votes for candidates were removed from the results, which had previously been recorded in the Municipal Counting Center (QKN) of Prizren. In addition, after the recount, 16,366 votes were added for candidates that had not been correctly recorded in the QKN. However, in the other recounted municipalities, no significant differences in candidate votes were observed. The changes include occasional errors in recording candidate votes and the addition of votes as a result of re-evaluating invalid ballots, but in certain polling stations, significant differences are evident for some candidates.
At today’s CEC meeting, Radoniqi said they have received a report after recounting half of the polling stations.
“The Central Election Commission, in fulfilling its constitutional and legal mandate, remains committed to protecting the integrity of the electoral process, ensuring transparency, and maintaining public confidence in the process. To be fully transparent, the results of each recounted polling station have been posted on the CEC results platform. As I mentioned at the beginning, today we received a report after recounting more than half of the polling stations according to the decision of January 13. According to the report, when we talk about votes for political parties, the verified changes are minimal and almost negligible. This means that the results for political parties were counted and presented accurately. In contrast, the data for candidate votes after the recount show a high level of inaccuracy. According to the report from the recounted polling stations in the Counting and Results Center, after the recount, 36,007 votes for candidates were removed from the results, which had been recorded in the QKN. In addition, 20,978 votes were added for candidates that had not been correctly recorded in the QKN,” Radoniqi emphasized.
This was also agreed by the CEC member from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, Sami Kurteshi, who said that the municipal election official should also be dismissed.
“I also agree with the recommendation to dismiss the municipal election commission in Prizren. I believe all members of the commission should be included, including the municipal election official who serves as the executive officer,” Kurteshi said.
The recommendations of the Election Operations Council were also supported by Ilir Gashi from the Democratic Party of Kosovo.
“Of course I support the proposal that came from the Election Operations Council, led by Mr. Elshani, and based on the recount results in 10 percent of the municipalities, it is clear that a nationwide recount is necessary for all polling stations, in order to accurately reflect the will of the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo,” he said.
Muharrem Nitaj from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) said that the findings are concerning.
“The findings presented in the report are concerning, not only for the CEC, but also for the public. It is good news that the differences between political parties have been negligible, and a segment of these elections passed minimally well. Unfortunately, the municipality that has caused extreme discrepancies in candidate votes is Prizren, where most of the mismatches occurred,” he concluded.
The national elections coordinator, prosecutor Laura Pula, after identifying discrepancies in candidate votes during the counting process within political parties in different regions of Kosovo, has requested that chief prosecutors in all basic prosecutor offices, in all municipalities where the recount has been completed, begin collecting the necessary information and securing relevant evidence that could indicate the commission of any criminal offense related to the electoral process.
