Home > 4.1 Parliamentary elections > KOSOVO - Law on General Elections in the Republic of Kosovo
 
 
 
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Article 96
 

1. An eligible voter who is temporarily absent from Kosovo may vote for elections if he or she
has successfully applied and registered for voting Out of Kosovo.


2. The vote through voting outside Kosovo, delivered by mail to the post office box of the CEC in
Kosovo, is accepted by the CEC until the day after the election day at 16:00, provided that it has
the stamp of delivery before the day of the elections. Meanwhile, the votes sent by mail to the
mailbox outside Kosovo opened by the diplomatic representations, upon the authorisation of
CEC, are accepted by the teams sent by the CEC, solely those that have arrived in the mailbox
at latest until the closing hour of the polling stations in the diplomatic representation.


3. Voting outside Kosovo is organized by the CEC, and voters may vote by individually
determining the voting method, at the time of registration through the CEC platform:


3.1. physically, in the diplomatic representation of the Republic of Kosovo or in their
premises which shall be turned into voting centres upon the criteria determined by the
CEC for adapting into the voting centres. This voting method is not applied in local
elections;



3.2. by sending the ballots through the mailbox of the CEC, to the post office of Kosovo;



3.3. by sending the ballots by mail to one of the mailboxes opened by the CEC, through
and with the facilitation of the diplomatic representation, outside Kosovo.


4. Voting in the diplomatic representation is organized one day before the election day in
Kosovo. The voting starts at 07:00 and closes at 19:00 according to local time of the respective
country. Ballots from voting in diplomatic representations and packages with ballots accepted
by diplomatic representations are not opened, counted, or evaluated, but only registered and
sent together with other election material to the CEC as diplomatic shipments. These materials
are collected by commission, in the presence of interested observers present, locked in safe
boxes, sealed in the manner determined by the CEC and sent as diplomatic mail to the CEC in
Kosovo. The same procedure is also used for receiving postal deliveries from a post office box
outside Kosovo. The CEC issues special procedures for the counting of envelopes, packaging
and delivery.



5. Voters who choose to vote by post may send their ballot packages directly to the post office
box of the CEC in Kosovo, or to the address of the post office box outside Kosovo opened by
the CEC, with the help of the representative office diplomatic office, in the state where the voter
votes, or in the nearest state where the post office box is open.



6. The CEC, through sub-legal acts, shall determine the criteria and conditions that must be
met by the facilities of diplomatic representations turned into voting spaces, as well as shall
determine the maximum number of voters who can vote, for each diplomatic representation.


7. The CEC, through the sub-legal act, regulates the method of registration for voting in diplomatic
representation, the method of voting, supervision, observation, distribution, packaging and
sending of voting material and all other issues related to voting for citizens abroad.



8. The CEC, in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, evaluates the physical spaces
for each diplomatic representation and, in accordance with the established criteria, takes a
decision on the number of polling stations and on the number of voters for each diplomatic
representation. Not later than five (5) days from the day of the announcement of election date,
the CEC requires from MFA the list of all diplomatic representations together with the necessary
details on the spaces of the premises. Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall be obliged to provide
the CEC with all the required information within three (3) days from the day of the receipt of
the request. MFA shall adapt the spaces of the premises of the diplomatic representations into
polling stations according to the criteria determined by CEC.



9. The CEC removes each voter registered to vote from outside Kosovo from the List of Voters
within Kosovo.



10. The CEC covers the expenses of polling station committees and teams that are engaged
to organize voting in diplomatic representations and to collect envelopes in mailboxes abroad,
including political party commissioners.


11. Teams that are engaged in order to vote abroad, are allocated to the voting list in the
diplomatic representation in order not to lose the right to vote.