Prishtinë, 30 August 2018 – The Ombudsperson published Report with Recommendations with intention of raising the issue of organizing of out of country voting for Parliamentary and Local Elections.

The Report is based on the analysis of local legislation and International Standards regarding organizing and conduct of Parliamentary and Local Election processes, with the focus on organizing of out of country voting.

Ombudsperson’s Report focuses on three issues of interest related to organizing of out of country voting.

The first issue is about publishing of final results of out of country voting. Regarding this issue the Ombudsperson ascertains that the legal framework of the Republic of Kosovo supports exercising of the right to vote abroad. Given the case law of the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR), when the country enables elections out of country and guarantees the same with the legal framework at force, it is then its liability to organize transparent and appropriate election process there. However, the Law on General Elections does not foresee publication of the final results of out of country voting. The Ombudsperson has therefore recommended amending / supplementing of the Law on General Elections, and that of Article 106, paragraph 4, where publication of the final results of voting abroad will be included.

The second issue concerns CEC Election Regulation for out of country voting which foresees the voting through postal boxes placed by CEC, but does not determine the location of these boxes.  Based on international standards, postal vote for out-of-country voting is considered to be insecure, fragile and non-transparent method. Therefore, the Ombudsperson has recommended amendment / supplementing of the Election Regulation No. 03/2013, Article 4, which should include also the location of the ballot boxes and the role of Consular Offices / Embassies in the electoral process.

In the spirit of the second issue, the Ombudsperson has also recommended amendment / supplementing of the Law on General Elections, actually of Article 96, which besides postal voting, enables in person voting as well, through the Consular Offices or Embassies, where election boxes will be placed.

This Report with recommendations has been delivered to the responsible authorities. The same has been published on OI official web-page, at: