Roundtable about “Enhancement of Democratic Processes in Kosovo”

30.04.2018

Democracy for Development institute (D4D) within the framework of its regional meetings, with focus in the identified challenges during the electoral processes of 2017, held the roundtable discussion in Peja with the theme “Electoral Justice: Conditional and By Mail ballots”, where the participants discussed about the challenges and actions taken during and after the electoral process.

It was discussed that if the conditional voting is removed, then we would have lower turnout because those citizens that are at work wouldn’t go to their voting centers to vote. While, if we continue to have conditional voting, we should have precautions for people that continuously try to break the law and vote twice.
As for the voting by mail there were two options, the first one was for the voting by mail to remain for the national elections, and their removal for local elections. This would simplify the process. While the other option was to leave the voting by mail on both elections, national and local, because it’s a fundamental right of all citizens, including the diaspora, to choose if they want to vote or not.

This meeting’s purpose was the further strengthening of cooperation between responsible institutions, which signed the cooperation memorandum over the electoral process (State Prosecutor, Central Election Commission, Kosovo Judicial Council, Election Complains and Appeals Panel, and Kosovo Police), and the steps that need to be undertaken for the enhancement of electoral justice. In this meeting participated representatives of political parties, the office of Ombudsman and from the civil society organizations.

This discussion was organized within the framework of “Enhancement of Democratic Processes in Kosovo”, supported by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland, through the Swiss Embassy in Pristina, implemented by Democracy for Development institute (D4D).