ECAP rejects PDK's request to annul thousands of postal votes

2026-01-09 20:46:06, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) announced late Friday that it has rejected as untimely the request of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) to annul around 20,000 votes sent to the country by mail from the diaspora for the early parliamentary elections on December 28.

The PDK - which came second in the election - asked the ECAP on Thursday to declare the votes in question invalid, saying they were mailed from abroad late, after the legally permitted deadline.

In a statement on Friday, the ECAP said that the party led by Bedri Hamza filed a complaint after the legally prescribed 48-hour deadline for filing a complaint, therefore the panel will not review it.

"The panel assessed that the complaint was filed after the legal deadline for filing a complaint, according to Article 119, paragraph 1 of the LZP, where the deadline for submitting the complaint is 48 hours from the occurrence of the alleged violation, and that the complaint was submitted to the ECAP on 08.01.2026, while the alleged violation according to the complainant occurred on 02.01.2026 and 05.01.2026," the announcement states.

The PDK complained that the Central Election Commission (CEC) received around 20,000 ballots on January 2 and 5, several days after the legal deadline for receiving votes sent by mail from abroad for the December 28 elections.

According to the Kosovo Law on Elections, ballots sent by mail from abroad can be accepted by the CEC no later than the day after election day at 4:00 PM.

Days earlier, CEC spokesman Valmir Elezi told Radio Free Europe that the commission - which oversees the electoral process in the country - had received around 20,000 ballots sent by mail from the diaspora on January 2 and 5.

Around 51,000 Kosovo citizens in exile were registered to vote by mail in these elections.

The Vetëvendosje party of the incumbent Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, won the overwhelming majority of the postal votes, 33,556, leaving the PDK behind with only 4,611 votes won.

Before the start of the counting of postal votes, the PDK was on track to win 23 seats in the Kosovo Assembly, but now it has lost one seat.

Vetëvendosje, meanwhile, has won 57 seats and Kurti is expected to form the country's new government once the election results are verified.

The CEC announced on Friday that the counting of all votes has been completed and it is now expected to announce the final result./REL