ELECTIONS FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF ALBANIA 25 JUNE 2017 FINAL MONITORING REPORT FINAL MONITORING REPORT uesv zhg e Ve Vë nd i o i r n e io c i l www.zgjedhje.al a ISBN: o K THE COALITION OF DOMESTIC OBSERVERS GRUPIM I 34 ORGANIZATAVE JOFITIMPRURËSE VENDASE, LOKALE APO QENDRORE, QË VEPROJNË NË FUSHËN E DEMOKRACISË DHE TË 9 789992 786833 DREJTAVE TË NJERIUT THE COALITION OF DOMESTIC OBSERVERS ABOUT CDO The Coalition of Domestic Observers is an alliance of non-governmental and non-partisan organizations, the core of activity of which is the development of democracy in Albania and defense for human rights, especially the observation of electoral processes. Since its establishment in 2005, the network of organizations in CDO has grown to include dozens of members. CDO considers the observation of electoral processes by citizen groups as the most appropriate instrument for ensuring transparency, integrity and credibility of elections. CDO strongly believes that engaging citizens in following electoral processes does more than just promote good elections. Empowering citizens to observe the electoral process, among other things, helps to ensure greater accountability of public officials. The leading organizations of CDO - the Society for Democratic Culture, KRIIK Albania and the For Women and Children Association - are three of the most experienced domestic groups. In fulfillment of the philosophy of action, these organizations announce relevant actions depending on the electoral or institutional process to be followed. All interested civil society organizations are invited to join the action, thus CDO re-assesses periodically, openly, and in a transparent manner the best values of network functioning. The critical values of this network are independence, expertise and cooperation between civil society organizations. The activity of the Coalition in election observation activities is guided by the “Declaration of Global Principles for Nonpartisan Election Observation and Monitoring by Citizen Organizations” and the conduct of observers by the “Code of Conduct for Non-partisan Citizen Election Observers and Monitors”. FINAL MONITORING REPORT ELECTIONS FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF ALBANIA 25 JUNE 2017 November 2016 – July 2017 THE MONITORING ACTION FOR THE ELECTIONS FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF ALBANIA OF 25 JUNE 2017 has been realized by: THE COALITION OF DOMESTIC OBSERvers (CDO) © COALITION OF DOMESTIC OBSERVERS The rights of this publication are reserved. Parts of the material can be used freely, in which case please cite the source. This Report is made possible by the generous suport of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with technical assistance provided by Democracy International (DI) The contents are the sole responsibility of the Coalition of Domestic Observers and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States government. CONTENT INTRODUCTION 9 I. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND ASSESSMENT 11 II. POLITICAL SITUATION 16 A. Conflict situation after the constitutional amendments 16 B. Reaching a parliamentary majority-minority political agreement 18 III. ELECTORAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK 21 A. Election administration 21 1) Albanian electoral system 21 2) Election infrastructure 22 3) Compilation and preparation of the list of voters 22 4) Sublegal acts of the Central Election Commission 24 B. Electoral justice 24 1) Criminalization of offences that undermine elections 24 2) The electoral process of complaints and appeals 25 C. Finances of electoral subjects 26 D. Reformation of the legal framework 26 1) Deep reformation and alignment of the legal framework 27 2) Transparency of the electoral process 27 IV. ADMINISTRATION OF THE ELECTORAL PROCESS 28 A. The progress of the activity of the Central Election Commission 28 1) The distortion of CEC membership composition 28 2) Decision-making of the Central Election Commission 29 3) Observance of procedural deadlines 30 4) The positive precedent of determining the number of seats in 31 each electoral constituency and electoral administration zones. B. Progress of the activity of Commissions of Electoral 31 Administration Zones 1) The establishment and progress of activity of the CEAZs 32 2) Transparency of the activity of CEAZs 33 3) The infrastructure enabled by the CEC for the CEAZs 34 C. The Progress of the activity of Voting Centre Commissions 34 V. VOTER REGISTRATION 36 A. Data about the process 36 B. Written notification of voters and verification of electoral components 37 VI. REGISTRATION OF ELECTORAL SUBJECTS 38 A. Until the Agreement of 18 May 2017 38 B. After reaching the agreement of 18 May 2017 38 VII. ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN 40 A. Problems from tradition in the electoral processes 40 1) The early electoral campaign 40 2) Lack of electoral platforms and discussion on electoral offers 41 B. New precedents of the electoral campaign 42 VIII. CAMPAIGN FINANCE 44 A. Financial transparency 44 B. The audit mechanism 44 IX. MEDIA 45 A. Amendments and deficiencies of the legal framework 45 B. The reports of the Media Monitoring Board 46 C. The use of cassettes and the critical role of the media 48 X. THE COMPLAINTS PROCESS 50 A. Complaints process before Election Day 50 1) Contestations on the legal deadline for the registration of 50 electoral subjects 2) Determination of parliamentary and non-parliamentary 52 electoral subjects 3) Contestations on the assignment of the third and fourth 53 member of the vote counting team 4) Replacement of the appointed CEAZ members and secretaries 53 B. Complaints process after Election Day 54 XI. INSTITUTIONS INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS AND DENUNCIATIONS 55 A. The institutions involved in the process 55 1) The activity of the Task-Force 55 2) Other involved institutions 56 B. Denunciations of vote influence 57 1) Alternative denunciation mechanisms 58 2) The executive investigation mechanisms 59 C. Findings from the monitoring of the local government 60 1) The decision-making of Municipality Councils 60 2) Law enforcement for electoral subjects 61 XII. THE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIAL GROUPS IN THE ELECTORAL PROCESS 62 A. Marginalized social groups 62 B. The participation of women in the electoral process 63 XIII. PARTISAN, DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL OBSERVERS 65 A. Observers accredited by the Central Election Commission 65 B. Observers accredited by the Commissions of Election 66 Administration Zones XIV. ELECTION DAY AND VOTE COUNTING 67 A. Data on the process 67 B. Findings on Election Day according to the SBO 68 1) Considerations on findings 68 2) Opening procedures 69 3) Voting procedures 70 4) Closing of voting centers 75 C. Voting in penitentiary institutions 76 D. Ballot Counting 77 1) Intake of electoral materials 77 2) Activity of Ballot Counting teams and the implementation of 77 counting procedures 3) Activity of the Commissions of Electoral Administration 78 Zones during the Ballot Counting XV. RECOMMENDATIONS 79 A. Primary recommendations 79 B. Secondary recommendations 80 XVI. LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 82 ANNEX 83 XVII. FINDINGS FROM THE STATISTICALLY BASED OBSERVATION 83 1. INTRODUCTION 84 2. OBSERVATION METHODOLOGY 84 a) Polling stations selection 84 b) Methods of observation and reporting 84 c) Data presentation 86 3. FINDINGS FROM THE STATISTICALLY BASED OBSERVATION 87 a. Opening procedures 87 a1) Opening time 87 a2) Presence of commissioners during the opening 88 a3) Organization and infrastructure of the polling stations 89 a4) Fulfillment of standard procedures for the opening of polling station 89 a5) Materials needed for the voting 91 a6) General assessment of the opening procedures 91 The Coalition of Domestic Observers of Domestic The Coalition b. Voting procedures 91 b1) Persons present at the polling station 91 b2) Organization and infrastructure of the polling station 93 b3) Respect for voting procedures 94 b4) Irregularities during the voting 99 b5) Overall situation in which the voting was conducted 101 b6) Access for disabled persons in the voting process 105 b7) General evaluation of the voting procedures 107 b8) The behavior to the observers 108 c. Closing of the polling stations 109 c1) Closing time of the polling stations 109 c2) Persons being present at the polling station at the time of 110 the closing procedure c3) The procedures for the administration of the voting materials 110 c4) The transport of materials to the CEAZ 112 c5) General overview of closing procedures of the polling stations 113 CDO FINAL MONITORING REPORT ELECTIONS FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF ALBANIA 25 JUNE 2017 8 9 ELECTIONS FOR THE ASSEMBLY OF ALBANIA 25 JUNE 2017 FINAL MONITORING REPORT CDO INTRODUCTION The Final Observation Report for the Elections for the Assembly of Albania of 25 June 2017 is a summary of findings, analysis and assessment made by CDO following the nine-month period of the observation action. The period covered in this Report spans from the determination of the number of mandates for electoral constituencies by the CEC, on November 2016, until the announcement of final results, on July 2017. This Final Report has been preceded by three Interim Reports, two Preliminary Statements on the processes of voting and vote counting, a Public Stance on finances of electoral subjects and one Report on Electoral Justice1. The Coalition of Domestic Observers Domestic Observers of The Coalition This Final Report, together with previous ones, constitutes a compilation of the findings and analysis on the activity and behavior of election commissions at all levels, other institutions responsible for the electoral