The Central Election Commission (CEC) is asking the government to extend the validity of identification documents for Albanians living abroad. According to data, over 200,000 Albanians in emigration will have both their ID cards and passports expire on the voting day, May 11. Additionally, more than 600,000 do not possess valid biometric passports, and over 400,000 lack valid identity cards. Among the Albanians in emigration, 160,213 have not applied for either of the two identification documents.

Since Albanians abroad are denied the right to vote without valid ID or passports, Ilirjan Celibashi is asking the government to extend the validity of these documents beyond May 11, the voting day. Based on information gathered by the CEC from the Ministry of Interior and the company producing biometric documents, it is currently recorded that 600,248 voters are holding invalid identification documents.

“From the data obtained by PER, it appears that around 900 (nine hundred) voters abroad do not possess a valid identification document. Based on the importance of voting from abroad and the objective impossibility for voters abroad to obtain a valid identification document within the legal deadlines, the CEC proposes the consideration of extending the validity of identification documents for voters residing outside the territory of the Republic of Albania until May 30, 2025,” reads the letter from the CEC Chairman.

At the end of the first week of registration requests, the State Election Commissioner clarified that unclear addresses were the reason for a high number of rejections. He also demonstrated how to correctly upload the document verifying residence.

The data shows that the highest number of Albanian emigrants whose registration was rejected comes from Italy, Greece, and Germany, and these voters are registered in the districts of Tirana, Fier, and Durrës.