Albania to exclude 160K voters with no biometric IDs from elections

Albanian voters who do not have a biometric identity document will not be able to vote during this year’s parliamentary elections, likely excluding about 120,000 voters, according to the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC).

According to Albanian law, the legal identification documents in the country are biometric passports and biometric ID cards. About 120,000 voters living outside of the country will not be able to vote for this reason and the CEC cannot offer a solution for this category, CEC Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi said last week, according to media outlet CNA.

“Any means of identification that was issued before the adoption of the law is not recognized,” says Celibashi.

Parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held in Albania on May 11th, 2025.

Despite excluding a large part of its 2.7 million population from voting because of the lack of appropriate IDs, the Albanian government has made some concessions: The government will allow citizens whose ID cards and passports expire before May 11th to vote by extending the validity of the document, the Albanian Daily News reports.

Election integrity is an ongoing concern in Albania, and prompted the adoption of biometric voting machines for the country’s local elections in 2023.

Article Topics

Albania  |  biometric passport  |  biometrics  |  elections  |  national ID  |  voter registration