Some 65 Voting Commissioners Indicted

TIRANA, Aug 6 – Clirim Gjata, head of the Central Election Commission, said they had punished with administrative measures or indicted some 65 commissioners working before in the local voting commissions but none had suffered anything.
Gjata complained that there was nothing done against them.
The only case when the justice showed their presence was for the commissioners in Shijak who had grabbed and robbed the stamps in a by-election. “These are unprecedented cases occurring nowhere in the world,” said Gjata, adding such a behavior is violating the standards of elections in the country. Voting has always been a problem in post-communist Albania despite pledges from the two main political groupings and the international observation.
Next year’s parliamentary elections are considered as a key test to Albania’s integration efforts into NATO and the European Union.
Based on the April amendments the country will vote in a regional proportional system, though the parliament has yet to debate and decide on the electoral code, something expected to be completed in September.