CEC: Petitions are accepted; a vote for the removal of mayors on April 21st is proposed

At today's meeting of the CEC, it was highlighted that the commission has verified a sufficient number of signatures collected by four initiative groups for a petition to remove Albanian mayors in North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic. CEC member Burim Ahmetaj emphasized that the best time to hold the vote for the removal of mayors was April 21st.

In response to Ahmetaj's proposal, Ilir Gashi stated that the decision was up to the president of Kosovo, "while CEC is here to assist in the preparation."

The report on the citizens' petition from the North was adopted today with eight votes in favor and two against.

After the verification process, which includes checking whether the individuals who signed the petition organized in the four municipalities in the North are voters of those municipalities, CEC announced that the required 20 percent had been verified in all four municipalities.

"From the petition organized in the municipality of Leposavic, CEC has accepted for verification a list with 3,030 signatures filled on 304 pages, from which, after comparison with the voter registry data based on personal identification numbers, it follows that 2,905 petition signatories are Kosovo citizens eligible to vote in this municipality. The total number of voters in this municipality is 13,441 voters, while 2,689 voters constitute 20 percent of the voter registry. These collected signatures constitute 20 percent of the voters in this municipality," CEC stated.

The voter list from Zubin Potok has also passed verification.

"From the petition organized in the municipality of Zubin Potok, CEC has accepted for verification a list with 1,576 signatures filled on 158 pages, from which, after comparison with the voter registry data based on personal identification numbers, it follows that 1,380 petition signatories are Kosovo citizens eligible to vote in this municipality. The total number of voters in this municipality is 6,732 voters, while 1,347 voters constitute 20 percent of the voter registry. These collected signatures constitute 20 percent of the voters in this municipality," they added.

As they stated, in the municipality of Zvecan, 1,411 voters constitute 20 percent, while 1,834 signatures were collected.

"From the petition organized in the municipality of Zvecan, CEC has accepted for verification a list with 1,834 signatures filled on 185 pages, from which, after comparison with the voter registry data based on personal identification numbers, it follows that 1,714 petition signatories are Kosovo citizens eligible to vote in this municipality. The total number of voters in this municipality is 7,052 voters, while 1,411 voters constitute 20 percent of the voter registry. These collected signatures constitute 20 percent of the voters in this municipality," they announced.

The highest number of signatures was collected in North Mitrovica.

"From the petition organized in the municipality of North Mitrovica, CEC has accepted for verification a list with 4,148 signatures filled on 423 pages, from which, after comparison with the voter registry data based on personal identification numbers, it follows that 3,653 petition signatories are Kosovo citizens eligible to vote in this municipality. The total number of voters in this municipality is 18,199 voters, while 3,640 voters constitute 20 percent of the voter registry. These collected signatures constitute 20 percent of the voters in this municipality," CEC added.