CEC: Voters leave the lists, cannot vote in Kosovo

Any voters outside Kosovo registered to vote by post from abroad will leave the voter's lists that are distributed at the polls on Election Day in Kosovo.

The name of those voters registered to vote outside Kosovo will remain only on the voter list outside Kosovo.

This has been confirmed for Kosova Prees by Central Election Commission spokesman Valmir Elezi, who has said it is the legal obligation for the CEC for each voter registered to vote outside Kosovo to remove his name from the voters' list in Kosovo.

The information is broadcast individually to all who apply and register as voters outside Kosovo.

It is the legal obligation for the CEC, for each voter registered to vote outside Kosovo, to remove his name from the voter list, which is distributed in the polls on Election Day in Kosovo. So, a Kosovo citizen, registered to vote outside Kosovo, will find his name on the voter list outside Kosovo. This information, the CEC individually conveys to all citizens who apply and manage to register successfully as voters outside Kosovo”, Elez said.

Elez has also explained the cases when any citizens -- after managing to register as voters outside Kosovo -- seek to return to the voter list within Kosovo to vote physically in its deployment.

In this case, Elez has stressed that registered voters outside Kosovo could submit their request to the CEC, respectively, to the voter service to return to the voter list within Kosovo, and this could be done by 24 hours before the period for opposition to the voters list ends.

On 23 July, the Central Election Commission has opened the deadline for registering voters outside Kosovo for voting by mail in local elections for mayors and municipal congregations, which will be held on 12 October 2025.

Under the deadline set by the CEC, the period for voter registration outside Kosovo will last 38 days, until 29 August 2025. Under the deadlines set by the CEC, the voting period outside Kosovo will begin on 17 September and end on 11 October 2025. This period will apply only to citizens who will register as voters outside Kosovo during the 38-day census period.

Unlike general elections in which Kosovo citizens living abroad have been able to vote even in diplomatic representations, in the 12 October local elections, this possibility will not exist, but only through mail.