A European ID Card For The Elections

The only potentially detrimental issue to the 28th of June parliamentary elections, at least thus far, is that of identity cards. There are now very few days left for citizens to obtain identity cards. All applicants after the 15th of June will be unable to obtain one and will consequently be unable to vote. In the meantime, disputes between government and opposition on the issue of identity cards continue. A local opposition leader in Vlora is suing the company responsible for the equipment of citizens with identity cards. According to him, out of 187 428 voters in Vlora, only 70 thousand have applied for identity cards and only 32 thousand have obtained one so far. The first impression is that of an alarming situation. Clearly though, a few tens of thousands of these voters have a passport, also a valid voting document. What is not equally clear however is the exact number of voters without an identity card and without a valid passport. Only fifteen days to the ballot box and nobody is capable of telling us how many citizens will be unable to vote because they lack either of the valid documents. The opposition is suing the Ministry of the Interior on the issue of identity cards and a few of its high ranking names allege that the government has led a discriminatory process of distribution favoring its own supporters and thus affecting election results. The opposition’s claims are actually debatable on the simple ground that evidence for these accusations has yet to be presented.
In the end, it remains difficult to foresee to what extent the issue of identity cards will affect the international standards of free and fair elections, so essential for Albania this time.
Unfortunately, government and opposition have by mutual consent led themselves into a trap that is difficult to come out of at this point. The equipment of citizens with identity cards was by mutual consent tied to the electoral process. This was undoubtedly a wrong decision to make in light of the short time the government had in its hands. In fact, it was extremely short if we take into account the experiences of other, much more consolidated states and the long time it took them to conduct this process successfully. It is to be expected that a high number of citizens do not have the will to obtain identity cards. And it is equally to be expected that the opposition will consider these citizens deprived of the inalienable right to vote. In the less than six months that government had at its disposal to equip citizens with identity cards, there was a lack of instruments or incentives to not only encourage but also oblige citizens to obtain the cards. Likewise, there was a lack of concrete proposals from the opposition on possible binding instruments and incentives (such as conditioning pension payments, salaries or the delivery of public services to the obtainment of identity cards), except for the overdue proposal to reduce the identity card fee.
In all likelihood, as evidenced day after day, the issue of identity cards will be politicized to the point of affecting the electoral process. At least one thing is clear, and that is the political use of the issue of identity cards that was foolishly though consensually tied to the elections and the right to vote at such a late hour. Furthermore, voices from the opposition that put in doubt the very reliability and security of the procedures of distribution of identity cards have not been negligible. Apart from being introduced to serve the credibility and security of the electoral process, identity cards are essentially a component of state-building. In that respect then, endeavours to question the procedures, credibility and security of their distribution are jeopardous. Despite all the ado, the opposition has actually failed to present clear evidence to back up its contentions. The instrumentalisation of the issue of identity cards for short-term electoral interests is not only futile but also dangerous.
In a short-term electoral context it is regrettable that the equipment of citizens with identity cards, thought of as a means towards international standards of free and fair elections, could turn into the exact opposite. Albania is a NATO member country and what must not be a matter of dispute is a European identity card upon the upcoming elections. That is, a European standard every deviation from which would carry serious ramifications for the stability and development of the country, including the ambition and further steps toward European integration.