{"id":13807,"date":"2021-05-19T09:37:10","date_gmt":"2021-05-19T09:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=13807"},"modified":"2021-05-19T11:27:56","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T11:27:56","slug":"heated-debate-at-cas-over-opposition-claims-of-multiple-voting-in-gjirokastra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/heated-debate-at-cas-over-opposition-claims-of-multiple-voting-in-gjirokastra\/","title":{"rendered":"CAS gives verdict on opposition\u2019s claims in Gjirokastra"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Commission for Appeals and Sanctions (CAS) has dismissed the appeal of the Democratic Party and Socialist Movement for Integration on the county of Gjirokastra.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the decision for Berat will be announced at 3 PM.<\/p>\n

The Democratic Party argued that \u201c26 pieces of evidence\u201d suggested that Interior Minister Bledi \u00c7u\u00e7i, and state functionaries, created an electoral establishment to extort state resources for campaign purposes in Gjirokastra.<\/p>\n

According to the DP, there were more than 13.000 people employed in public administrations over the course of 4 months forcing it to participate at the polls and list voters for the Socialist Party.<\/p>\n

The Democrats called on CAS to retrieve additional information to sustain their claims over misuse of personal data, allocation of public funds, and legalization permits in exchange for votes.<\/p>\n

The Socialist Movement for Integration denounced several individuals from the electoral commissions in Dropull, who should have been isolated, according to an order from the health ministry on citizens coming from North Macedonia and Greece.<\/p>\n

This specific order was largely contested as \u201cunconstitutional\u201d by the SMI during the electoral campaign as it impeded Albanians living in these two countries from exercising their voting rights.<\/p>\n

CAS commenced on Tuesday amid heated debates to review the complaints filed by the opposition for multiple voting in Gjirokastra.<\/p>\n

Deputy State Election Commissioner, Lealba Pelinku, was summoned from political party representatives on how electronic identification devices operated in face of evidence showing multiple voting in this county.<\/p>\n

Pelinku, who was responsible for the management of the electronic identification system, responded that \u201ctechnology prevents multiple voting\u201d, however insisted that she cannot be held accountable \u201cfor technological leaps\u201d.<\/p>\n

Opposition representatives pressed on getting a concrete answer on how 14 people had voted 74 times, but Pelinku dodged the question sparking a heated debate at the session.<\/p>\n

During the summoning, Pelinku said there were \u201cat least 2 cases\u201d where the same individual \u201cappeared in different voting centers to cast their ballot\u201d and suspected they were members of the electoral commissions or operators of electronic devices.<\/p>\n

After the intense debates, CAS decided to adjourn for 15 minutes and give the verdict afterward.<\/p>\n

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