The date has been announced, but the rules still are not. For the May 9 local elections, the election administration is facing a gap directly linked to the new territorial map, while the parties continue to fail to agree on the changes required by the Electoral Code.
CEC seeks swift intervention in the Electoral Code
State Election Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi has called on political parties to sit down as soon as possible to adapt the Electoral Code to the new administrative territory where the local elections will be held.
According to him, the provisions related to the way council members are elected, the criteria for determining their number, and the structure of representation of different territorial units within a local unit must be reviewed.
Celibashi stressed that these changes should have moved in parallel with the territorial map, meaning that politics is once again behind schedule on a fundamental issue for the electoral process.
Warning: delays could also create legal problems
The head of the CEC did not hide his criticism of the political parties for dragging out this process. According to him, if the harmonization of the Electoral Code with the new territorial reality is pushed beyond the end of the year, the risk will not remain merely practical.
Celibashi warns that, beyond difficulties for the CEC in preparing the elections, problems of a legal nature could also arise. This is a strong signal that the process could enter a gray area if politics continues to treat the reform as a secondary issue.
Clash over electronic voting and the Democratic Party’s position
Another point of disagreement remains the expansion of electronic voting and counting. Celibashi insists that this model should be extended to at least four municipalities, but according to the version presented by him, the Democratic Party rejects this option.
The commissioner acknowledged that the PD’s position cannot be ignored, describing it as the main opposition party. He argued that the Democrats’ claims about the system’s security do not stand, while calling on the majority to engage in communication with the opposition and other parties to seek consensus.
New artificial intelligence pilot in counting
The use of artificial intelligence is also expected to be tested again in these local elections. According to Celibashi, the technology will be piloted in vote counting in two CEAZs, one in Tirana and one in a small municipality.
The testing comes at a time when the legal infrastructure of the elections itself remains debatable. This makes the demand for transparency, verifiable standards and political agreement on every element affecting the credibility of the process even more sensitive.
Lawsuit over territorial division and the impact on the elections
The Democrats have warned that they will take the new territorial division into 46 municipalities to the Constitutional Court. However, according to Celibashi, such a court challenge does not affect preparations for the elections.
Although the election administration says work is continuing, it remains clear that the elections are approaching amid significant legal and political uncertainties. This once again shifts the burden to the parties, which so far have produced more delays than solutions.
The decree on the election date has been signed, but that does not resolve the regulatory gap surrounding the process. Without a swift agreement on changes to the Electoral Code, the local elections risk entering the campaign with rules unsuited to the reality that politics itself has created.
If the deadlines are pushed back even further, the CEC’s warning will not remain merely technical: it could turn into a new crisis that is foreseeable, but not prevented by those who have it in their hands to avoid it.