1. A polling unit should be part of a compact and contiguous geographic territory and the number of voters in each voting centre must not be lower than 150 and larger than 1000 voters, with the exception of cases provided in point 1 of article 59 of this Code.
2. No later than the time limit established in letter (b) of point 1 of article 49, of this Code: a) if a polling unit has more than 1 000 voters, the mayor of the local government unit decides to establish an additional voting centre within the same unit. The mayor of the respective unit, in accordance with the instructions issued by the Minister in charge of local government, divides the voter list into two parts with an approximately equal number of voters, where the members of one family are to be assigned to the same voting centre. In this case, the new voting centre is to be established, when possible, in the same building as the existing voting centre and is numbered according to the unique national system of numbering the voting centres;
b) if a polling unit has fewer than 150 voters, the mayor of the local government unit decides that it is to be attached to the nearest polling unit accessible by road. As a rule, the new voting centre should not be farther than 5 km away from the voters’ residence.
If it is not possible to meet both of the above criteria, then the criterion of the minimal number of voters prevails. The number of the suppressed voting centre is suspended, and this suspension does not affect the existing numbering of the other voting centres.
3. The existing boundaries of the polling unit also shall be retained for the succeeding elections, except when a change is necessary as a result of a failure to meet the requirements provided by point 2 of this article. The CEC, upon special instruction, numbers the polling units in a unique manner nationwide.
4. The location of the voting centre is to be established at the same address as in previous elections, except when, for objective reasons, this is not possible.
5. For the Municipality of Tirana, the responsibilities specified in this article are exercised by the Tirana borough mayors.
