Arianit Omani, CEC spokesperson, told Balkan Insight on Friday that the Commission had put in place everything required for the smooth running of parliamentary and municipal polls.
“We are
not dealing with any kind of problems, be that organisational,
technical or logistical. The polling stations will be awaiting the
first voters tomorrow from 7 o’clock [0600 Greenwich Mean Time]”, said
Osmani.
Voters will have three ballot papers, as they are
electing members of Kosovo’s Assembly, members of the municipal
assemblies and, for the first time, they will be voting directly for
local mayors.
Since Kosovo came under UN administration
in 1999, after NATO’s air strikes led to the withdrawal of Serb troops
and authorities, two parliamentary elections have been held in the
entity.
Unlike in earlier polls, when Kosovo citizens voted only for party lists, this time they will also have the right to choose directly their members of parliament.
As the
voting procedure will be far more complicated than in the previous
elections, with triple elections plus lengthy voting lists, it is
estimated that citizens will need on average seven to eight minutes
each to cast their ballots.
To avoid possible long queues, the CEC and political parties are advising voters to come well-prepared to the polling stations.
The
reason for that is that on the ballot paper for the Kosovo Assembly,
voters will have to pick 10 numbers corresponding to 10 names from up
to 100 on their party’s list of candidates.
CEC officials say the polling stations will this time have more voting booths.
“We
will have three or more booths in each polling station and the
estimated number for each station is about 720 voters”, said Osmani.
Polling stations will stay open between 0700 and 1900 hours.
“However
the polling stations will not close until every citizen who is in a
queue at 7 pm has had an opportunity to vote”, said Osmani.
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