Albanian electronic elections; OSCE rejects DP-SP consensus
12/05/2012 19:30

The electronic ballot count for the elections of 2013 was considered as a very important agreement by the members of the Electoral Reform Commission, but it seems that it will remain only on paper.

This time it is ODIHR that reopens the electoral reform debate, because the experts of this organization are rejecting the usage of technology in the ballot count.

E letter sent to the Commission of the Electoral Reform by ODIHR experts says that the proposition of the Socialist Party for using new technology in the elections, and for which the Democratic Party gave its consensus two weeks ago at the Commission, has been considered by ODIHR as precipitant, unsafe and unstable. For this reason, it has been considered as unrealizable for the elections of 2013.

ODIHR recommends at least three years of preparatory time for the inclusion of technology in the elections. ODIHR also recommends their usage only through pilot projects in a low and gradual scale.

According to ODIHR, the legal framework should be detailed, precise and that guarantees the personal data. The Electoral Reform Commission will have only a few days to correct the consensus after these declarations.

The electronic ballot count was promoted as the biggest novelty of the Electoral Reform, but now it will probably turn into the biggest obstacle.

The voting and ballot counting procedures, the two most voluminous chapters of the reform, will be returned as the main priority in the agenda of the Electoral Reform Commission.