The elections in Albania are unfolding with a low turnout at the polls, with current Prime Minister Edi Rama and former President Salih Berisha running against each other.

Counting of votes will begin when the polls close at 7 o’clock Albanian time and the first results are expected late in the evening.

As himara.gr reports, as of 10:00 a.m., turnout was just 13.24 percent, with 149,977 voters having turned out in 1,692 of the 5,225 constituencies.

Albanian media are even reporting that turnout could exceed 50%, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the process.

Complaints and irregularities

At the same time, several complaints have already been lodged about the electoral process with the prosecution having received 44 reports of electoral irregularities, mostly from Fieri, Durres and Elbasan districts.

In the Finiki Municipality, voting was stopped in the villages of Divri and Chalio after complaints from opposition candidates as violations and attempts to stuff the ballot boxes were found. Also in the villages of Grava and Gardikaki, the process did not start because committee members did not go to collect the necessary materials for the operation of the polling stations.

In Fieri, a loss of 500 ballot papers was reported, of which only 47 were identified. A Democratic Party candidate entered a polling station and allegedly put pressure on the delegates. In Pogradec, there was an incident involving physical assault and abuse of voters. In Kukes, a 27-year-old man was arrested with large sums of money, suspected vote buying. In Resin, a candidate’s husband was arrested for obstructing voters while under the influence of alcohol. In Pekin, identification problems led to manual voter registration.

Statements

Edi Rama voted early in the morning, urging people to participate en masse. President Bairam Begay voted in Lusnia, stressing the importance of a free vote. Sali Berisha called the day “the second day of summer” and said he was optimistic of victory.

Chris Lasivita, the Democratic Party’s campaign manager, denounced attempts to buy votes and called Rama’s practices “communist”.