New ID cards continue, with some problems

TIRANA, Jan 21 – Albanian citizens continue to be issued new ID cards which are needed for the June 28 general elections.
On Wednesday the government agreed with the opposition, agreeing that all passport holders would not be sanctioned for not having a new IDs and that they may use their passports as identification when they vote.
The government has decided to apply stiff penalties to ensure compliance with getting the new IDs. Public employees and the elderly will not receive their wages and pensions if they fail to apply. Also, students cannot enroll in schools and universities if they do not have the new identity card by March 30th.
Further, authorities will use the new ID card information to issue new biometric passports, a process that has yet to begin.
Albania’s new identity cards began to be distributed last week. It is expected the personal data will help reduce voter fraud.
The opposition mentioned, however, that there are still thousands of voters with their names in at least two different places, something that may seriously threaten the voting process again.
The government’s interior ministry pledged to purge the files of twice-listed names within three weeks.
The credibility of past elections in Albania has suffered from disputes over the authenticity of identity documents and of voter registries.
Besides elections, the new cards will be a key element in implementing European standards for elections this summer. Each new card contains fingerprints, general information and a digital photo of the card-holder.
Biometric passports are a requirement for liberalization of the visa regime with the EU.
The government also announced that the existing passports would continue to be valid until 2011.
The identity card and the biometric passports both reflect the best standards of identification documents in Europe, according to the authorities, adding they meet all EU standards and will contain EU symbols such as the EU map.