The Central Election Commission has decided that eligible citizens over the age of 80, who apply to register as voters with special needs to vote through mobile teams on election day, do not need to present or attach a disability certificate or medical diagnosis, reports Ekonomia Online. The snap elections are held on December 28.
According to CEC member Arian Elshani, after the change made, the registration of these voters can only be accomplished by presenting a valid identification document and a photograph of the voter holding the identification document.
The Director of the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities at the CEC, Besnik Buzhala, said that the secretariat has concerns regarding the administration of the process.
"What the secretariat is afraid of here is that if we have a large number of voters who we remove this criterion from, it could affect the number of ballots we have available. Which means that if the number of reserve ballots is used up, we have to take ballots from the regular polling station stacks. It is easy to be inclusive, but it is also difficult to administer this process," he said.
CEC member from the Vetëvendosje Movement, Alban Krasniqi, assessed that the change is not problematic if institutional obligations are respected.
"I think there is nothing wrong with bypassing the regulation in order to ensure the inclusion of citizens, but without ignoring the rights and obligations of both institutions and citizens," he said.
Even the CEC member from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Ilir Gashi, said he supports such a decision.
Meanwhile, Sami Hamiti, a member of the CEC from the Democratic League of Kosovo, agreed that the best solution is an age over 80.
According to data from the voter list certified by the CEC, the number of citizens with the right to vote over the age of 80 is 48,977 voters.
Also at this meeting, the Central Election Commission accredited the first group of 283 observers to observe the early elections for the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, which will be held on December 28, 2025.
Besnik Buzhala, director of the Office for Registration, Certification and Financial Control of Political Entities, said that there are 17 observer organizations that have applied and meet the legal criteria.
Of these, three are non-governmental organizations, three embassies and 11 media outlets.