The citizens of the Republic of Kosovo are exercising their right to vote today – in the first regular parliamentary elections since the declaration of independence in 2008. 

According to the data from the Central Election Commission, the number of eligible voters at polling stations is 1,970,944. For the first time, over 125,000 young people are voting, reports KosovaPress. 

Meanwhile, the number of citizens registered to vote from abroad is 104,924. 

For the first time, the diaspora has voted through diplomatic representations. Voting by mail began on January 9. In the parliamentary elections on February 9, 28 political entities are competing, with a total of 1,280 candidates for parliament. 

Four candidates are running for prime minister. Unlike previous elections, the election silence will last only during the 12 hours of voting – from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM. 

There are 941 voting centers, of which 903 are for regular voting – with 2,533 polling stations – and 38 conditional voting centers (one per municipality) with 56 polling stations. 

According to the new Law on General Elections, on election day, only the part of the ballot where citizens vote for political entities will be counted at polling stations, while the counting of the other part of the ballot – votes for parliamentary candidates – will begin the next day. 

For the first time, citizens will have the opportunity to vote for ten parliamentary candidates. The parliamentary elections will also be monitored by over 100 observers from the European Union.

KosovaPress will provide live coverage of the parliamentary elections in our country. 

Our field team will bring real-time updates on all developments related to the electoral process until late at night. 

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