a minute agoWhy are there so many invalid ballots in Kosovo
Periskopi(7 years ago)
(7 years ago)About 80 thousand was the number of invalid ballots in the recent local elections in Kosovo, held in 2017. The large number of invalid ballots from past elections resulted from the strict non-information of citizens for how they should vote, assess members of civil society monitoring election processes [...]
Ibrahim Sefedini from Pristina, in past elections, on election day had made a mistake and his vote had gone to the wrong party.
Such mistakes, he claims, are also taking place because of the inadequate institutional information.
I once got it wrong, I got it (the case) of another party, that's worthless. If you vote on one subject and five more candidates to that subject, that's fine. If you confuse the candidate, then she's worthless”, he showed.
As a result of the correct lack of voting, there are also huge numbers of invalid ballots.
About 80 thousand invalid ballots have been announced in the 2017 local elections. That same year, parliamentary elections were held. In this election, more than 42 thousand votes were declared invalid.
The municipalities with the largest number of invalid ballots are Drenas and Skyraji, while with the smallest number of invalid ballots are Pristina and Mamusha.
In the 2017 local elections, according to Blerta Aliu from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), the largest number of invalid ballots has been noted.
It has shown for Radio Free Europe and the leading causes, which according to it, result in such a large number of invalid votes in Kosovo, which primarily connect to the incomplete information of citizens.
“Trends show that when it comes to general elections, voters are entitled to vote for candidates, not marking the political subject, and in this form, invalid balloting becomes. They don't mark the subject, but they focus on candidates, and that makes it invalid. In this case we can say that half of the invalid ballots for general elections have this problem”, Aliu indicates.
It has also discussed other natures of the unworthiness of balloting. In some cases, she points out, balloting is largely intentionally damaged by voters, but most invalid balloting involves fulfillment in the wrong form.
Central Election Commission spokesman (KQZ) Valmir Elezi has told Radio Free Europe that most election processes in Kosovo occurred before the previous time, and that has made citizens not better informed.
The two main problems are: selecting candidate numbers on the right side, without choosing the political subject (45.8%), and choosing more than a political subject (32.3%). Voter discontent with the political offer has been reflected in analysis through invalid papering aimed at (12%) as well as empty balloting (9.2%)”, Elesi has said.
Taking into account the recorded shortcomings, Elez has said that more work needs to be done in the correct information of citizens about the way they vote.
But not everyone thinks paper is complicated to understand. Adem Rexhaj, an 84-year-old citizen from Pristina, says he has been informed by the media about the way they should vote and presents no problems for him.
Whoever wants to vote, we have every night on TV as if to vote, but whoever doesn't want to listen to it or vote. We should vote on the party number and five deputies, those I want”, he said.
Among Western Balkan states, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo remain states with the highest percentage of invalid ballots.
After that, northern Macedonia ranks 3.2 percent, Serbia at 2.9 percent, Albania at about 2 percent, and Montenegro with only 1.4 percent of invalid ballots.
