Previous 1 / 4 Next

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. 375-2/2019 Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), Panel composed of Judges: Fejzullah Rexhepi Chairperson, Nenad Lazic, Afjete Sada-Gllogjani, Kymete Kimete, Zyhdi Haziri, Rrustem Thaqi, Ferki Xhaferi, Faton Ademi and Adnan Konushevci members, with participation of legal official Antigona Murati, deciding on the appeal filed by political entity LVV based in Prishtina submitted against Central Election Commission (CEC) - Count and Results Center (CRC) based in Prishtina, due to the nonprocessing of 4.639 ballots of voters from outside of Kosovo as regular ones and non- 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 28.10.2019, made the following : DECISION To dismiss as ungrounded the appeal A.no.375/2019 on 17.10.2019 filed by political entity Lëvizja Vetëvendosje based in Prishtina, claiming that Central Election Commission (CEC) should be ordered to transport to Count and Results Center (CRC) the 4.639 packages with ballots for counting, ballots which were sent by post service by citizens ( voters) outside of Kosovo. Reasoning On 17.10.2019 the political entity LVV has submitted in ECAP the complaint A.no.375 / 2019 dated 17.10.2019, against CEC which claims that on 16.10.2019 at around 23:00hrs., the counting of ballots of citizens living abroad, received by post service, has been completed; out of which 13,491 ballots received by 11,922 post mails. The appellant alleges that they were informed by their observers that there are 4,639 packages with ballots received by post service and sent by citizens who live outside of Kosovo and which have not arrived and counted yet at CRC. Further the appellant political mentioned that it is necessary to count the packages of 4,639 ballots in order to realize the will of the citizens who live abroad and thus their constitutional right to elect as per Article 45 of Constitution of Kosovo. As per constitutional provisions, respectively of Article 45 paragraph 1 and 2 and in order to fully realize the will of citizens of Kosovo, by giving them the right to elect their representative at Assembly of Kosovo through their democratic vote

Select target paragraph3

● ● ●

Levizja Vetevendosje v. Central Election Commission

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the ballots postmarked well before the election, but not received by the CRC, must be counted as valid ballots.

Alleged Acts: The plaintiff alleges that on October 16, 2019 the counting of ballots was completed from all those living outside of Kosovo. However, the plaintiff asserts that at the time of the counting there were 4,639 package received by the post service and sent by citizens, but had not yet arrived for counting. The plaintiff asserts that the counting period to receiving outside votes deprives them of the right to vote and participate in the democratic process.

Procedural history: The CEC held a meeting concerning the status of those ballots missing at the time of counting. The Election Operations-Election Service Division indicated that the ballots were marked for mail after the end of the period acceptable for those living outside of Kosovo.

Summary: The election took place on October 6, 2019. The ballots from outside of Kosovo were received from October 8, 2019 to October 11, 2019. The packages were put into the mail from September 19, 2019 to September 30, 2019. The court determined that the legally binding deadline is upon the receipt of the ballots, not the postmarked date. The court determined that the statutory requirement was clear and that the ballots must be received by the CRC 24 hours before the close of elections. The court further determined that this procedural requirement did not surmount to vote suppression because the ballots are needed hours before the close of the election in order to solidify a result.

Conclusion: The ballots are not valid because they did not meet the statutory requirement and were invalid.

Legal Issue(s)

Vote Verification and Transmission

Applicable Law(s): L.G.E. art 115, 117, 118, 122 (Kosovo).

Region: Europe and Eurasia

Country: Kosovo

Language of Decision

English

Court: Electoral Court

Election Type: General

Date of decision: Oct 28, 2019

Geolocation

Latitude: 42.66767183

Longitude: 21.17066236

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

BkeU15Yb.pdf
english
Download View