Elections in Albania

The Republic of Albania will hold parliamentary elections on Sunday, May 11, 2025.

The parliamentary elections will take place nationally to fill 140 seats in the Assembly of Albania. Voting is scheduled from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at 5,225 Voting Centers across 61 municipalities. Voters in detention or social welfare facilities will be able to vote at 16 special Voting Centers. Albanian law stipulates that all who are eligible to vote in these special centers must have resided in their respective locations for at least three days, with a minimum of 15 eligible voters required to establish a Voting Center.

Reforms to electoral legislation in July 2024 and February 2025 introduced provisions for diaspora voters. As a result, out-of-country voters will cast their ballots for the first time via postal service. They will complete their mail-in ballots from abroad and send them to the Central Election Commission in Albania by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.

The May 11 parliamentary elections are taking place during a critical moment in Albania’s European Union (EU) accession process. In October 2024, Albania opened negotiations under the Cluster 1 Fundamentals of the EU Acquis Communautaire and has since opened negotiations under two more clusters.The outcome of the elections will determine the pace of reforms and the government’s ability to shepherd negotiations to progress further in EU accession. The current government aims to complete negotiations by 2027. These elections also mark the first-time out-of-country voters will cast their ballots, after long-awaited legal reforms have finally enabled their participation. Albania’s official population is 2.4 million, but almost 246,000 citizens are eligible to vote from outside the country. Thus, this change is expected to significantly influence the electoral landscape and has been the subject of much political discussion. The unprecedented participation of out-of-country voters could significantly influence the election outcome, particularly since polls typically survey only voters residing in the country. 

Meanwhile, persistent corruption and political interference in the judiciary play a significant role in the electoral campaign, with current high-level corruption proceedings against the Democratic Party leader, Sali Berisha; Freedom Party leader, Ilir Meta; and Socialist Party Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj. Corruption throughout the public administration and the justice sector have been a particular feature of the opposition campaign and also remains a priority reform for all contestants. The influence of corruption and organized crime in the elections has also been a dominant feature of the campaign to date. The Institute for Political Studies (ISP) released a report identifying districts that may be vulnerable to vote-buying and patronage networks, including Elbasan, Durrës, Dibra, Lezha, Shkodra, and Fier. Voters in these areas may be especially vulnerable to influence linked to corruption, organized crime, and clientelism. On the other hand, ISP identified Përmet, Maliq, Konispol, Finiq, Dimal, Gramsh, and Belsh as districts with lower risk, as they are generally free from the influence of organized crime or powerful political and economic actors.

The Assembly of Albania is a unicameral legislative body with 140 seats. Its members are elected every four years through a regional proportional and multi-member system in 12 constituencies. Their boundaries coincide with the administrative division of 61 municipalities, as outlined in the Constitution and the Law on Local Self-Government. The proportional system calls for multiple electoral candidates across jurisdictions, varying from a minimum of three mandates in Kukes to a maximum 37 in Tirana. 

The primary legislation governing elections in Albania is the Electoral Code of Albania, amended in July 2024 and with further, minimal, amendments in February 2025. The criteria and rules for implementation of the proportional electoral system, determination of electoral zones within constituencies, and the number of seats to be obtained in each electoral zone are set out in the Electoral Code. In addition, the legal framework comprises the Constitution, Law on Political Parties, Law on Demonstrations, Law on Gender Equality, and Law on Decriminalization. Secondary legislation derives from this framework, including numerous decisions and orders issued by the Central Election Commission in its role as the national election management body.

Citizens at home and abroad are voting for 140 seats in the Assembly of Albania. Eleven coalitions have submitted candidate lists to contest the elections. They include 53 political parties and a total of 2,046 candidates nominated across the registered lists.

Candidates will appear on an open and a closed list, with voters casting ballots for both in a mixed voting system. The preferential voting candidate list is equal to the total number of mandates for each of the 12 electoral zones, presented in alphabetical order by surname. The fixed ranking candidate list is equal to one-third of the mandates for each of the 12 electoral zones, presented in numerical order. Candidates from coalitions and political parties cannot appear on both lists, and every third name on each list must be a woman.

According to the Constitution of Albania, every citizen who has reached the age of 18, even on Election Day, has the right to stand for election, with the exception of those declared unfit by a final court decision or those serving a prison sentence. Certain professionals are barred from running as candidates unless they resign from their positions first; these include judges and prosecutors, police, diplomats, members of electoral commissions, and others. Candidates may run on behalf of an electoral coalition or political party, or as independent candidates, subject to registration with the Central Election Commission (CEC).

According to the February 2025 electoral amendments, political parties interested in contesting the elections must register as electoral subjects no later than 75 days before the election (an increase of five days from previous elections to accommodate out-of-country voting). In this case, political parties had until February 26 to register with the CEC. Political parties wishing to form coalitions of two or more parties are required to register with the CEC no later than 70 days before the election according to the amendments, up from 60 days in prior elections. The deadline to submit coalitions to the CEC for these elections was March 3.

All candidates, whether from coalitions or political parties, or independent, must register with the CEC no later than 60 days before the election according to the February 2025 amendments, an increase from 50 days in prior elections. All candidate lists were submitted to the CEC by March 13. If coalition candidate lists do not have sufficient representation in the sitting National Assembly, they are required to document support signatures from 7,000 voters; political party candidate lists require 5,000 voter support signatures in this instance. For independent candidates, voter support signatures should represent at least 1 percent of voters from the relevant electoral zone, but no more than 3,000, unless those candidates are current members of parliament.

According to the Electoral Code, the election campaign begins 30 days before Election Day and concludes 24 hours before the polls open. This end point coincides with the start of a period of silence that prohibits any campaign activities, including media advertising, rallies, and other actions. In addition, electoral poll results may not be published in the final five days before the election.

The Electoral Code outlines the financing of the electoral campaign, describing which electoral subjects are entitled to public and non-public funding. This funding may come from the state budget, generated income, monetary and in-kind donations, and loans. Funds from the state budget are calculated based on the number of votes received by each electoral subject in the prior election; receipt of at least 1 percent of total votes is required for the disbursement of state funds. On March 20, 2025, the Central Election Commission (CEC) calculated a total of ALL 131,201,816 (roughly 1.46 million USD) to be distributed among the 11 electoral subjects for this election. Donations of every kind are restricted to individuals and entities in Albania (or with Albania citizenship) and cannot exceed ALL 1 million (roughly 11,500 USD); entities and their shareholders that have performed any public contracting in the last three years before the elections are barred from donating. The same prohibited time period applies to future public contracts for individuals or entities that donate during the campaign. Electoral subjects, as well as auditors, monitors, and the public, are responsible for transparency and disclosure of all income during elections to the CEC.

The Electoral Code defines electoral campaign expenditures as any “expenditures made by or on behalf of an electoral subject, including the candidates and/or its branches, or an independent candidate, for the purpose of promoting their campaign or thwarting the campaign of another subject, regardless of the date they are made.” Expenditures are capped at five times the state budget funds allocated to the respective electoral subject and 50 percent of the highest value distributed to an electoral subject in the case of an independent candidate.

Electoral campaign finance reports are due to the CEC no later than 60 days after the election results are announced. The CEC selects auditors to review the reports and publishes the final audit report no later than 30 days after the submission of the financial report.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) is the body responsible for the organization and administration of elections and referendums in Albania. The CEC directs and supervises the activity of the election administration and monitors the activity of electoral subjects, state bodies and institutions, and the media in relation to elections. It also resolves administrative requests or complaints related to the electoral process. Electoral code amendments in July 2024 introduced changes to the CEC’s competencies and amended procedures to reflect needs for out-of-country voting. The governing bodies of the CEC are the State Election Commissioner, Regulatory Commission, and Complaints and Sanctions Commission.

The State Election Commissioner, as an individual entity, exercises executive powers, directs the CEC’s administration, and represents the CEC. The Assembly elects the commissioner to a renewable seven-year term. The Deputy State Election Commissioner, responsible for oversight of electronic identification technology and recruitment and training of election officials, is elected by the Assembly for a four-year term. Separately, the Regulatory Commission is responsible for approving electoral acts and establishing rules and procedures for elections. The Assembly elects its five members for five-year terms. Lastly, the Complaints and Sanctions Commission reviews administrative complaints and imposes sanctions for violations of electoral law. It consists of five members whom the Assembly elects for nine-year terms. A minimum of three-fifths of Assembly members must cast votes for CEC members.

Two groups of lower-level election management bodies support the CEC: Electoral Administration Zone Commissions (CEAZs), as well as a Commission for Out-of-Country Votes, and Voting Center Commissions (VCCs). CEAZs are established for each Electoral Administration Zone (EAZ) no later than 90 days prior to an election (in this case, February 10, 2025). Each of the 93 CEAZs is led by seven members and a secretary proposed by electoral subjects and selected by the CEC. CEAZs are responsible for the administration of elections in their respective EAZs, including preparing and approving the aggregate results of the EAZ. VCCs are established no later than 30 days prior to the election (in this case, April 11) and are led by seven members selected by the CEAZ in the same manner by which CEAZ members are selected. They are responsible for the administration of elections at all voting centers.

Ballot Counting Centers (BCCs) are established in accordance with the number of CEAZ jurisdictions; the CEC designates them no later than 40 days before the elections (for these elections, by April 1). No later than five days before Election Day, CEAZs invite electoral subjects and VCCs to inspect the BCCs. The BCCs are staffed by Ballot Counting Teams of four members determined based on political representation and appointed by CEAZs no later than 10 days before the elections, in this case on May 1.

In accordance with Article 22 of the Electoral Code, the CEC is empowered to “explore, experiment, and decide” on various technologies used in the electoral process. The law foresees pilot projects for technologies for at least 10 percent of voters at each stage of implementation, with specific mention of video-monitoring systems for ballot counting, electronic identification for voters, electronic voting machines, and ballot counting machines. All equipment is subject to pre-election testing randomly selected from each electoral zone for at least 3 percent of machines and at least 50 voters, as well as post-election verification randomly selected from at least 10 percent of voting centers. For these elections, all voting locations will use electronic voter identification devices. Meanwhile, electronic voting and ballot counting will be conducted at Voting Centers in Vora Municipality and Administrative Unit nr.10 in Tirana.

The Electoral Code and Criminal Code of Albania clearly define violations, abuse, and fraud that undermine the integrity of elections. These actions include vote-buying, illicit political finance, abuse of state resources, voter intimidation, and other forms of manipulation during the campaign and on Election Day. While these forms of electoral corruption are directly outlawed, and prevention efforts are in place, previous elections in Albania have been criticized for cases, including one regarding high-level vote-buying that ended with the jailing of the elected mayor of Himara in 2023. International and citizen observer reports regularly point to continued abuse of state resources in public administration and irregular financing of election campaigns.

Ahead of the 2025 election campaign, the Special Prosecutor’s Office Against Corruption and Organized Crime (SPAK), the General Prosecutor’s Office, and the Central Election Commission (CEC) published a joint strategy for investigating and preventing electoral crimes. The strategy outlines how each institution will investigate alleged crimes, share information, support joint initiatives, and collectively pursue accountability. This includes opening a special office within the CEC to jointly investigate electoral crimes, enhancing inter-institutional cooperation and timely responses to any electoral violation. Authorities stated that the joint office will be able to facilitate faster and more efficient investigations. The strategy also calls for joint working groups, public reporting platforms, and social media monitoring, among others.

In January 2025, SPAK launched a task force that aims to prevent and investigate electoral crimes. The task force comprises 13 mobile investigation units and an oversight unit in Tirana. The mobile units cover all 12 regions and are include SPAK prosecutors, National Bureau of Investigation investigators, financial investigators, and support staff. Each unit is tasked with preventing and investigating criminal offenses related to the misuse of public administration and state resources and organized crime influence in elections.

The Constitution of Albania gives every Albanian citizen who has reached the age of 18, even on Election Day, the right to vote, with the exception of those declared unfit by a final court decision or who are serving a prison sentence.  July 2024 amendments to the Electoral Code allowed the participation of out-of-country voters for the first time. Within Albania, civil status offices for each polling unit are responsible for compiling the voter list, which must be announced no later than 40 days before the election. At that point, the list cannot change for any reason, subject to a court appeal no later than six hours before the close of the polls on Election Day. While voting registration is passive for those residing in Albania, voters living abroad must register actively. In early January 2025, the Central Election Commission opened a voter registration portal through which members of diaspora communities could submit documentation for registration.

A total of 3,713,761 registered voters are eligible to cast ballots on Election Day, including 1,839,592 women voters, 114,642 first-time voters, and 245,935 registered out-of-country voters, who will mail in their ballots via DHL International.

The Constitution of Albania and laws deriving from it protect the rights of citizens, including women, persons with disabilities, and other marginalized groups. Their political rights and freedoms include active and passive voting rights (the right to vote and stand for election). Article 3 of the Electoral Code provides for the right to vote for every eligible Albanian citizen regardless of “race, ethnicity, gender, language, political conviction, religion, physical ability or economic status.”

The Electoral Code also includes stipulations that the “under-represented gender” – the one that traditionally has the fewest members in the Assembly or local councils – should comprise at least 30 percent of the Assembly. This quota extends to all levels of the election administration. In addition, the Electoral Code requires measures to be taken against third-party voting, family voting, and threats to voter secrecy, which disproportionately impact women. The law also outlines the collection and publication of statistics on women’s participation. The Central Election Commission (CEC) is responsible for ensuring compliance with these provisions.

Voters with disabilities are eligible to receive voting assistance on Election Day from a designated family member or another voter at the Voting Center (VC). Each VC must ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities; such voters can register with their respective municipal mayors to request accommodations, including mayoral appointments for support personnel or provision of equipment to enable accessibility. The Electoral Code also requires the CEC to provide special voting devices at voting centers for registered voters who are blind or have low vision, enabling them to cast their ballots independently. To ensure equal access to the electoral process, the CEC developed a voter education strategy for persons with disabilities, which includes details on how the CEC will communicate on various electoral matters.

The CEC provides voter information in languages common among Albania’s ethnic minorities, including Roma, Macedonian, Greek, Aromanian (Vlach), Serbian, Bulgarian, Bosnian, and Montenegrin. However, no quota or separate threshold is stipulated for electoral subjects representing national minorities. The CEC also launched a program for first-time voters, targeting over 20,000 graduating high school students who will be eligible to vote in these elections. The program includes activities designed to inform them about voting procedures and the importance of democratic participation.

Amendments made to the Electoral Code of Albania in July 2024 enabled out-of-country voting for the first time. In early January 2025, the Central Election Commission (CEC) opened a voter registration portal for diaspora communities that, within the first 48 hours, attracted the registrations of more than 10,000 Albanians living abroad. By the time the registration period ended on March 5, 2025, a total of 294,155 diaspora voters registered to vote. Of those, 245,935 were approved, with the majority from Italy, followed by Greece and Germany. To assist out-of-country voters, the CEC posted a voter education guide on YouTube with instructions for completing ballots and preserving envelopes. Both the packaging and the counting of out-of-country voting materials in Albania are monitored with 24/7 camera surveillance and livestreamed on the CEC website. 

Registered voters living abroad were able to verify their addresses between March 9 and 12 and could submit complaints to the Tirana District Court via an online portal through April 11, 2025. Ballots were sent to registered out-of-country voters via DHL International, which was selected competitively as the postal service provider for the entire process. The CEC compiled the ballot packages, including stamped and sealed district-specific ballots in an anonymized Envelope A, that was placed in a personalized Envelope B. That envelope included a barcode readable only by the CEC. Each barcode contains a voter’s name, country of residence, and electoral district. The envelopes were placed into the final mailing envelope. After voting, the voter replaces the ballot in Envelope A, then in Envelope B, and finally in the mailing envelope. Voters can call their local postal service using contact details provided in the kit to request home collection of the ballot. 

The CEC advised out-of-country voters to allow four to five days for their ballots to arrive in Albania. The CEC must receive all marked ballots no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. As of May 2, 2025, just over 45% of out-of-country votes were received by the CEC.

In accordance with Article 6 of the Electoral Code, any electoral subject registered with the Central Election Commission (CEC) has the right to appoint one observer each to the Voting Center Commission, Commission of Electoral Administration Zone, and each table at the Ballot Counting Center after the registration of the candidate or candidates for the relevant electoral zone, or after a candidate list is submitted. Organizations active in good governance and democracy – both in Albania and abroad, foreign diplomats, and members of the media also are eligible to observe the elections. Their rights and duties are stipulated in the Electoral Code. All requests for Albanian observer accreditations must be submitted to the CEC no later than 15 days before the election, in this case by April 26, 2025; foreign observers should submit their accreditation requests no later than 72 hours before the election, in this case by May 8. The CEC must make its decision five days after submission of requests by Albanian observers and 24 hours after submission by foreign observers.

As of April 28, 2025, 1,347 observers were accredited for the elections.

The State Police will manage physical security at all Voting Centers (VCs). During voting, the State Police will be on call to protect any VC experiencing disruptions to order and in case unauthorized individuals are present on the premises. A police officer is also charged to accompany the transfer of ballots to Ballot Counting Centers.

The State Election Commissioner issued an order on April 16, 2025, that requires the designation of two security coordinators – one each from the ruling majority and the largest opposition party – at each VC. This new mechanism outlines rules for individuals in and around VC premises and other protections for orderly conduct on Election Day. 

Vote counting and tabulation will take place at designated Ballot Counting Centers (BCCs). Once voting centers close, Voting Center Commission (VCC) members and a State Police officer will transport voting materials to BCCs within Electoral Administration Zone Commission (CEAZ) jurisdictions, monitored by observers. Once all ballots are received from the CEAZ jurisdictions, ballot counting teams count ballots at BCCs in front of observers and security cameras. Each CEAZ then certifies the results and transmits its aggregate table of election results electronically to the Central Election Commission (CEC) no later than 10 p.m. on the day after the elections, in this case May 12. The CEAZs submit supporting documentation to the CEC.

During these elections, electronic voting will be conducted at Voting Centers in Vora Municipality and Administrative Unit nr.10 in Tirana. Electronic ballot counting will take place at the same locations.

The Electoral Code does not set a deadline for announcing results. However, each Electoral Administration Zone Commission (CEAZ) must send its aggregate table of election results to the Central Election Commission (CEC) no later than 10:00 p.m. the day after the elections, and the CEC must approve the aggregate tables no later than 48 hours after receipt of all aggregate tables from CEAZs. The process follows two phases: first, votes are counted for electoral subjects; then, once a quotient is calculated, the votes for preferential candidates are counted.

In past parliamentary elections, the announcement of official results has taken several weeks. For example, the April 25, 2021 elections were certified on July 13; the June 25, 2017 elections were certified on July 26; and the June 23, 2013, elections were certified on August 6. Those time spans were mostly due to the time required to adjudicate complaints filed to the CEC.

The Electoral Code covers election disputes, including those related to voter registration, campaigning, and Election Day proceedings. Any individual is able to inform the Central Election Commission (CEC) of potential violations.[1]

During the voter registration period, all eligible voters were able to lodge complaints regarding their registration with their respective civil registry offices and submit appeals to their district courts if the civil registry office did not address any complaints.[2] An online portal managed by the High Judicial Council allows diaspora voters to file complaints with the Tirana District Court, which is required to address them within 48 hours of receipt.[3] The deadline for out-of-country voters to submit complaints was April 11, 2025.[4]

According to Part X of the Electoral Code, Administrative Appeals of Election Commissions Decisions (Articles 124–144) and Part XI, Judicial Appeals of CEC Decisions and Invalidity of Elections (Articles 145–159), electoral subjects and candidates have the legal right to appeal the official counts of the Commission for Electoral Administration Zone and CEC, along with any other violations of their rights stipulated in the Electoral Code and its sublegal acts.[5] Complaints are filed first with the CEC, which must make a decision within 10 days of receipt regarding the table of election results and within two days for all other complaints.[6] Complainants can appeal CEC decisions to the Judicial Electoral College within five days of the decision during the election period.[7] The Judicial Electoral College has 10 days to adjudicate and decide on the appeal and the subsequent decision is final and cannot be appealed.