Around eight cases have been reported as incidents, but none have been found to involve criminal elements, says the National Election Coordinator, Prosecutor Laura Pula. She confirmed to KosovaPress that no one has been arrested for vote misuse in these local elections as of midday.

In an interview with KosovaPress, Pula from the Office of the State Prosecutor said that 100 prosecutors and supporting staff are deployed across all municipalities to protect the free vote of citizens.

“The role of the prosecutor in elections, not only in these but since 2013, based on the cooperation memorandum we have with all relevant bodies and institutions, is to protect the free vote of citizens. This has proven successful over the years in each election. I call it a success because if we compare it with elections that were almost chaotic in Kosovo, there is a drastic reduction in the number of people who manipulated citizens’ votes. This is thanks to this cooperation and the role of the prosecutor, who has now made this work almost routine during elections. In these elections, we have engaged around 100 prosecutors along with supporting staff across all municipalities in Kosovo, aiming to act efficiently and proactively to prevent criminal acts or violations related to voting rights, as well as manipulations and fraud in any form,” she stated.

So far, Pula said, no one has been detained for criminal acts related to vote misuse.

“Based on the number of voters and reported cases, we can confidently say that no one has been detained for crimes related to voting rights or under the special chapter that includes 11 criminal offenses. If a vote is photographed and shown to someone for various purposes, whether threats, material gain, or economic advantage, it falls under criminal law. Anyone photographing a ballot will be detained and verified for their intent. It is true that we had reports of three cases, but those individuals were interviewed and released as no specific claims were confirmed,” Pula added to KosovaPress.

Prosecutor Laura Pula said that up to eight cases have been reported as incidents, but none have been confirmed to contain criminal elements.

“There have also been other initiated or different cases that did not constitute criminal acts. I also want to clarify the treatment of different incidents during election day: they can be divided into three categories. First, administrative violations, which do not involve the State Prosecutor and may be handled by the Police; second, minor offenses, also not involving criminal liability; third, if any element of a criminal offense from the 11 defined offenses is met, the Prosecutor has the right to take appropriate action with the Kosovo Police, including immediate detention. The 7–8 reported cases were verified and found not to involve criminal acts, so we cannot say that anyone has been arrested today for criminal acts related to vote misuse in the local elections,” she concluded.

During the day, Acting Chief State Prosecutor Besim Kelmendi visited the Operations Room for monitoring the electoral process at the Office of the Chief State Prosecutor, where he was received by National Election Coordinator, Prosecutor Laura Pula.