Republic of Kosovo
Republika e Kosovës-Republika Kosova
Paneli Zgjedhor për Ankesa dhe Parashtresa
Izborni Panel za Zalbe i Predstavke
Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel
A.no. 376/2019
Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), Panel composed of Judges: Zyhdi Tahiri Chairperson,
Afijete Sada Gllogjani and Kymete Kicaj members with participation of legal official Vlerona Maliqi,
deciding on the complaint submitted by GERMIN Organization based in Prishtina submitted against Count
Central Election Commission (CEC) in Prishtina, due to the non-processing of 4.639 ballots of voters from
outside of Kosovo as regular ones and not counting of the same at CRC on Early Elections for Assembly
of Republic of Kosovo dated on 06.10.2019, at the panel session held on 19.10.2019, made the following:
DECISION
To DISMISS as impermissible the complaint A.no.376/2019 on 18.10.2019 submitted by GERMIN
Organization based in Prishtina, based in Prishtina, claiming that the 4.639 ballots of voters from outside
of Kosovo received by CEC from 08.10.2019 to 11.10.2019 to be processed as regular votes and to permit
the counting of the same at CRC.
Reasoning
On 18.10.2019 GERMIN Organization based in Prishtina, has submitted to ECAP the complaint A.no.376
/ 2019 against Central Election Commission which claims that during the monitoring and verification
process of the votes sent via post service for Early Elections for Assembly of Kosovo dated 06.10.2019,
noticed that CEC has qualified as unacceptable the 4.639 packages with ballots arrived via post service to
the address of CEC after the date 05 October 2019 but before the counting of other votes arrived by post
service so these ballots, sent by citizens who live abroad, were a priory refused, without undergoing any
verification procedure. According to the submitter of the complaint, all these packages were delivered as
postal deliveries before the deadline for sending the deliveries set my CEC, respectively from 19 September
to 05 October 2019 which can be also verified according to the same by the postal stamp with the date of
delivery, considering that the refusal of CEC in the meetings of date 12, respectively 17 October 2019 on
treating these packages with ballots delivered by postal service, based on time limit on receipt of the votes
by post delivery set by CEC establishes a violation of electoral rights guaranteed by the Constitution of
Republic of Kosovo ( respectively legal provisions as per Article 45 paragraph 1, 2; Article 22, Article 53,
55) of Law on General Elections (respectively provisions of Article 1, 2, 5, 96, 119),Election Rule
no.03/2013 on Voting outside of Kosovo ( Article 4 and Article 5) and court practices of Constitutional
Court of Republic of Kosovo and ECHR, which provisions are about the citizens’ electoral rights.
According to the submitter of the complaint, the limitation of time frame on receipt of votes from outside
of Kosovo to 24 hours before the election day, was not necessary to be limited to the extent necessary for