Political parties and candidates who competed in the May 14 local elections in Albania spent more money on advertising on social media compared to television commercials.
The report on campaign expenses from the Coalition for Reforms, Integration and Consolidated Institutions (KRIIK) states that the electoral subjects had significant spending on political advertisements on Facebook and Instagram during the election period, in comparison to the campaign for the 2021 parliamentary elections. The expenses increased throughout the official campaign period.
The report shows that from the day the election day was appointed by the President of the Republic until the election day, a total of 133,561 to 146,910 US dollars were spent on 3,332 political advertisements.
The electoral subject that spent the most is the coalition “Together We Win”, which spent from 50,612 to 56,288 US dollars on 1,706 advertisements.
Next comes the Socialist Party, which spent from 45,634 to 47,921 US dollars on 431 advertisements.
Other electoral subjects followed with smaller amounts compared to the first two, starting with the Hashtag Initiative (Nisma Thurje), the Movement for National Development (LZHK), the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity (PDIU), the Democratic Party, the “Together” Movement (Lëvizja Bashkë), etc.
According to calculations made by KRIIK, electoral subjects spent at least 133 million Albanian lek on political advertising during the campaign period.
Electoral subjects also made political advertising online, including on online media or commonly known as portals. However, since these types of media are not obliged to deposit the fees they charge for advertisements with the Central Election Commission, it is difficult to calculate the expenses made by political subjects and candidates for this type of advertising.
