Electoral Administration Zones

(words amended in points 2 and 4 by Law No. 74/2012, dated 19 July 2012 and points 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 amended by Law No. 31/2015, dated 02 April 2015; point 4 amended by Law No. 101/2020, dated 23 July 2020)

1. Electoral Administration Zones (EAZ) shall be established and function for every kind of election and referendum, in accordance with this Code.

2. The territorial jurisdiction of an EAZ, as a rule, shall be the same as the administrative territory of the municipality, in accordance with the law regulating the administrative-territorial organisation in the Republic of Albania. Municipalities that have more than 80 thousand citizens with the right to vote shall be divided by the CEC into more than one Electoral Administration Zone, in line with the following criteria:

a) the inseparability of the territory of the administrative unit, except for those with more than 80 thousand voters;

b) continuity and compactness of the territory, avoiding geographical barriers;

c) good transportation opportunities within the territory;

ç) similar number of voters.

3. No Electoral Administration Zone may geographically expand into two or more regions.

4. In the case of Tirana Municipality, each of the administrative units that are former municipal units shall comprise a separate election administration zone of its own.

5. No later than 9 months before the end of the Assembly’s mandate, the CEC shall approve the Election Administration Zones, based on the number of citizens with the right to vote on the last date of the electoral period valid for determining the election date, according to the information given by the General Directorate of Civil Status. No later than 10 months before the end of the Assembly’s mandate, the General Directorate of Civil Status shall send the data to the CEC, broken down by local government units and administrative units they are comprised of.

6. No later than 5 months before the election date, the CEC may change the boundaries of an EAZ, in accordance with the requirements of this Article, only if there is a change in the criteria for their establishment according to points 2 and 3 of this Article.