Home > 6 Political parties > ALBANIA- Joint Opinion on the Electoral Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 24
 

Article 68 requires that lists of political parties or coalitions, which do not have a mandate in the previous Assembly, be supported by 10,000 and 15,000 registered voters, respectively.  These numbers appear excessive if they are meant to apply at the level of the constituency. Indeed, it is unclear whether the signature support requirement applies to the contestant at national level, or for each of the contestant’s lists.  Based on the number of registered voters in Albania and the number of administrative zones, the number of required signatures should be substantially lower.[14]  It is also not clear why a percentage, as applied to individual citizen candidates (Article 69), would not be used for political party and coalition registration.  It is generally recommended that the requirement for signature support not exceed one percent (1%) of the registered voters in the constituency.[15]  Indeed, the numbers of 10,000 and 15,000 are quite high in comparison with the previous law, which only required 7,000 and 10,000 signatures for a political party or coalition, respectively, to be registered nationally. It would seem that the numbers of 7,000 and 10,000 should be reduced by a factor of 12 instead of increased. The Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR recommend that these provisions be clarified, and that the signature requirements be reduced uniformly to a maximum of one percent (1%) of the registered voters in an electoral zone.