Depoliticization of the CEC: Can the Commission resist political pressure and conduct new elections properly?

The report of the European Union Election Expert Mission on the most recent local and parliamentary elections in Kosovo held in 2025 pointed to the need for the depoliticization of the Central Election Commission (CEC). According to Kosovo Online’s interlocutors, political decisions such as the refusal to certify the Serb List and denying Serbian-language media access to monitor the electoral process represent the main abuses of the Commission by members affiliated with Albanian political parties, while vote counting, in their view, remains the principal challenge ahead of the upcoming elections on June 7.

Written by: Milena Miladinovic

Irregularities related to vote manipulation during the elections held on December 28 left the strongest impression on that electoral process. Due to alleged vote theft, the Kosovo prosecution launched an investigation, while 109 individuals suspected of falsifying election results, exerting pressure, intimidation, and offering and receiving bribes across Kosovo — from South Mitrovica to Pec, Djakovica, and Malisevo — were arrested.

Following the discovery of vote manipulation, ballots were recounted, and the final election results were announced only on February 9 of this year.

According to Kosovo Online’s interlocutors, the manipulations concerned individual parliamentary candidates and did not significantly affect the final election outcome, but the irregularities considerably prolonged the vote-counting process.

Analysts view decisions such as the refusal to certify the Serb List for participation in elections as politically motivated and expect similar attempts to recur in future electoral processes. They also stress that representatives of political parties who are members of the CEC must cease abusing the Commission, while any reform of the institution would require constitutional amendments in the Kosovo parliament, adopted by the votes of all 120 MPs and a majority of representatives of minority communities.

Neutral Bodies, Not Representatives of Political Parties

University professor Mazlum Baraliu told Kosovo Online that there is an urgent need for the CEC, municipal election commissions, and even the secretariat itself to become more professionalized and function as neutral institutions rather than political representatives of political parties.

“Article 139 of the Kosovo Constitution states that the CEC is a constitutional body responsible for organizing, conducting, and supervising elections. However, in order to transform it into a professional institution composed of independent representatives — not political parties, but experts in the relevant field — the Constitution would have to be amended. And the Constitution can only be changed by a double majority: a majority of all 120 MPs and a majority of MPs representing minority communities. That is why this is quite a procedural and lengthy process. Nevertheless, there is certainly a pressing need for the CEC, municipal election commissions, and the secretariat itself to become more professional and neutral bodies, rather than political representatives of political parties, which is how the institution is currently structured,” Baraliu said.

Regarding irregularities in the previous elections, Baraliu stated that everything was in order on election day itself, while the issues identified later were corrected.

“The previous elections were not manipulated. Everything related to the first day of the electoral cycle, which is the most important day, was conducted properly. What was not in order, and what was identified through the repeated verification of results, concerned certain cases in some municipalities involving individual MPs. That was identified and removed. As such, the process was entirely democratic and fair. But what some representatives of political parties did is now subject to proceedings and will probably be sanctioned by the courts,” Baraliu stated.

Speaking about efforts by political party representatives within the CEC to prevent the Serb List from being certified to participate in elections, Baraliu emphasized that the Constitutional Court had already ruled on the matter.

“The Constitutional Court has provided an answer to that question. Clearly, one political entity attempted twice to prove that the Serb List should be removed from the register of political parties, but the Constitutional Court rejected that. Therefore, there may be further attempts, but I do not believe anyone will pursue that issue again. Certainly, the Serb List should ensure that it acts in accordance with the laws and Constitution of this country, primarily for the sake of its membership and the Serbian community citizens whom it represents or seeks to represent exclusively. It should ensure that it is not identified as an institution acting contrary to the law, because that undermines both the image and authority of the party itself and more broadly,” Baraliu added.

Intra-Party Vote Theft Existed Earlier as Well

Milica Andric Rakic, program manager of the NGO “New Social Initiative,” stressed that Albanian political parties in Kosovo could once again abuse the Central Election Commission (CEC) during this election campaign and adopt decisions related to the refusal to certify the Serb List or banning Serbian-language media from monitoring the electoral process.

“Specifically, through the same initiatives we saw in the previous two electoral cycles, when they refused to vote in favor of certifying the Serb List candidates for participation in elections. During the last electoral cycle, we even witnessed the refusal to certify media outlets reporting in Serbian. I fear such things may happen again,” Andric Rakic told Kosovo Online.

Regarding irregularities in the previous electoral process, when numerous individuals ended up behind bars over vote theft, Andric Rakic stated that intra-party vote theft among candidates in Kosovo had occurred before as well, but that this time the public was alarmed, forcing the prosecution to react.

“Let us recall the electoral cycle when the husband of Meljiza Haradinaj-Stublla, who at the time was a minister, was caught in the act. So these things had been happening, everyone knew they were happening, but apparently not on the scale seen in the previous elections. I think the public was much more alarmed this time, which is probably why the prosecution reacted in such a manner, and I believe this will now be considerably reduced both by the parties themselves and, ultimately, by the people who participated in such activities. If there were previously no consequences for these actions, it is now evident that there can at least be problems in the sense of becoming part of an investigation, so I think party representatives on polling boards will refuse to engage in that,” she said.

She emphasized that these irregularities did not affect the overall distribution of votes among political parties, but rather involved illegal redistribution of votes among candidates within a single party.

Vote Counting Remains the Main Problem

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic assessed that Kosovo generally does not face major problems regarding electoral conditions, but that the upcoming elections could again encounter old challenges — technical problems in vote counting and political attempts to disqualify the Serb List.

Speaking to Kosovo Online, Gogic noted that election campaigns and election days themselves in previous electoral processes had unfolded in a relatively decent atmosphere, without major pressure on voters that would undermine the regularity of the process. However, according to him, the critical point comes after polling stations close.

“The biggest problem the Central Election Commission (CEC) faced was not merely organizing election day itself, but rather the subsequent vote counting and announcement of results. After the February elections, results were delayed for a long time because the platform used by the CEC malfunctioned, which also occurred during later electoral cycles,” Gogic recalled.

As one of the most serious incidents, Gogic cited irregularities in voting for individual candidates on party lists during the previous elections. Nevertheless, he noted that these irregularities did not substantially alter the election outcome, since only a small number of MPs — if any — lost mandates because of them, which is why, he assessed, the entire case was treated rather lightly.

Gogic also singled out attempts at political misuse of the CEC, especially regarding the certification of Serbian representatives’ candidacies.

“The single biggest incident concerns the certification of the Serb List. During last year’s cycles, the CEC initially refused to certify the list, and then its individual candidates as well. Those decisions were later overturned before the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel and the Supreme Court, because the Serb List and its candidates fulfilled all legal requirements,” he explained.

Gogic predicts that a similar scenario may occur again.

“We can assume what the scenario will be. Representatives of Self-Determination in the CEC will probably vote against the certification of the Serb List, while other parties will remain restrained. So this will probably once again end up before second-instance bodies,” he stated.

Despite these issues, Gogic believes it cannot be said that Kosovo lacks fair and free elections.

“The media scene is relatively diverse and not entirely under government control, although the current government used budgetary funds to assist certain categories of citizens ahead of elections, which is considered an abuse of position,” Gogic said.

According to him, the key issue is for the CEC to demonstrate resilience against political pressure during this electoral process.

“There are effective legal mechanisms. Although there are attempts at obstruction, in the end no one was deprived of their active or passive voting rights,” Gogic concluded.