TIRANA, July 3 – It was officially announced on Wednesday by the Central Election Committee that voter turnout in the June 30 elections was only 22.97 percent, while the number of irregular votes surpassed 5,5 percent, marking an all-time high.
In a press release, the CEC stated on Wednesday (three days after the end of the election) that the total number of participants in the June 30 elections had been 812,249 voters, with a percentage of 22.97 percent (from 3,536,016 in total).
The CEC also communicated for the first time the number of irregular votes, which were reportedly not communicated in a transparent manner at any time during these elections.
According to the CEC, the number of invalid votes for mayors was 45,276 (5.5 percent) and for municipal councils 49,986 (6.15 percent).
In addition, 1,148 ballots for mayors “were invalid votes or cast in the wrong box” and were not included in the CEC reported figure for invalidation.
The trend of invalid ballots in elections, as reported by Exit.al, was mainly at 2 percent, but since the opposition did not participate in the June 30 elections, the irregular or invalid votes were counted at twice than usual.
Meanwhile, in terms of figures, where the CEC was reported to misinform on the preliminary data and delay the publication of official data, it did not assume responsibilities but implied that misinterpretation had been the fault of media reporting.
In its notification, the CEC states, inter alia, that “the final official result will be announced only after the expiration of administrative appeals at the CEC or possible appeals to the Electoral College.”
