May 11th Elections/ CEC Appeals to Voters

2025-02-03 11:20:00, Politikë CNA

The Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection, Besnik Dervishi, and the State Election Commissioner, Ilirjan Celibashi, in a joint statement, today expressed their maximum commitment to the May 11 elections and appealed to all voters to respect the law on electoral activity.

This statement within the framework of the election campaign informs the citizens of the Republic of Albania that both institutions remain engaged in rigorous monitoring of the period before and during the election campaign. For this reason, they appeal to voters, political parties, organizations, and other parties engaged in this process to be careful in respecting the law regarding the administration and processing of personal data within the framework of electoral activity.

"We consider it our primary duty to guarantee that the fundamental rights of citizens are respected at every step by implementing the Electoral Code, Law No. 124/2024 "On the Protection of Personal Data" and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union.

1. Any processing of personal data must be based on clear legal criteria that are understandable to citizens. Citizens must be clearly informed about how and for what purpose their data will be processed.

2. Political parties and relevant organizations should collect and process only those data that are absolutely necessary for voter registration purposes.

3. The collected data must be protected by appropriate technical and organizational measures to prevent unauthorized access, destruction or misuse.

4. Data collected for registration purposes should not be used for other purposes, such as political propaganda, without obtaining the informed consent of the citizen.

5. Political parties and relevant organizations should be held accountable for any violations of data protection principles and be open to oversight by competent authorities.

Implementing the principles of personal data protection helps strengthen the integrity of elections and maintain trust in democratic processes.

"Considering the potential risks that the illegal processing of voters' personal data may bring, we encourage citizens and electoral entities to complain to the Office of the Commissioner for the Right to Information and Personal Data Protection in cases where they identify a violation or infringement of personal data," the statement reads . / CNA