In a press conference, Chief Electoral Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi provided an update on the vote-counting process for Albania’s May 11 elections. He noted that the process has not gone as smoothly as expected and shared the number of polling stations counted so far in each district:

• Berat: 197 voting centers counted
• Dibër: 119 voting centers
• Durrës: 238 voting centers
• Elbasan: 377 voting centers
• Fier: 273 voting centers
• Gjirokastër: 164 voting centers
• Korçë: 275 voting centers
• Kukës: 119 voting centers
• Lezhë: 117 voting centers
• Shkodër: 246 voting centers
• Tirana: 615 voting centers
• Vlorë: 341 voting centers

Celibashi also stated that 24 out of 93 CEAZs (Commission of Electoral Administration Zones) have completed the counting for political parties, but due to fatigue, they have decided to begin counting the open-list candidate votes the following day.

“The process has generally gone well, but as in previous elections, we face issues with the pace and continuity of the counting. The slowdown is mostly due to the fatigue of the counters and CEAZ members—many of whom served as commissioners during the voting and then had to take on counting duties immediately afterward,” said Celibashi.

He called on political parties to rotate and replace their counting team members accordingly:

“Parties must take responsibility for changing their counting staff. They know who they’ve nominated and must build a more efficient system. We cannot allow the interruption of the vote-counting process.”