The Central Election Commission in cooperation with the OSCE Presence in Albania organized a High Level National Conference with the theme “Voting from abroad, time is now”!

This event brought together political parties, state institutions, the diaspora, civil society and the international community, and aimed to lay the foundations of the voting from abroad for the Albanians  living abroad,  in order to exercise their right to vote in 2025 general elections.

Important messages for the application of voting from abroad were delivered by the State Election Commissioner, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi, Chairman of the OSCE Presence in Albania, Ambassador Vincenzo Del Monaco, Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, Mrs. Lindita Nikolla, Ambassador of the United States of America, Mrs. Yuri Kim and the Deputy Head of the Political Section of the European Union Delegation, Mr. Jean-Baptiste Le Bras.

Voting from abroad , especially in its application for the first time, has as a pre-condition a political consensus, which is present in every aspect of the preparatory work and application of it. Therefore, the State Election Commissioner, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi in his speech underlined that “In the situation when voting inside the country is almost every time association by contestation to the election result, it is evident that we must decide on the implementation of this process, as all relevant political, political and institutional factors have their input in this process ”.

Celibashi said that the CEC is determined and fully confident that the fulfillment of its institutional responsibilities related to voting from abroad cannot be whole and useful if we do not consider all the stakeholders interested in this process.

Political parties, civil society organizations, institutions and international partner organizations exchanged ideas on the application and voting options for the Albanians living abroad, bringing examples of consolidated practices in other countries. The entire regulatory framework of voting from abroad will be consulted with all stakeholders during the drafting stage, including political parties. The CEC intends to finalize this process no later than autumn of next year.

 At the end of the conference, the CEC and OSCE Presence in Albania proposed a draft resolution with the findings and recommendations of the event.

Full address of the State Election Commissioner, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi.