Dead persons in Kosovo election list

Late Ibrahim Rugova is one of probably many deceased persons on the voters’ list ahead of the November 17 elections. BIRN reports that apart from Rugova, who died in January 2006, Kosovo’s official register of voters includes the late deputy minister in charge of local government, Aziz Lila, the late folk singer Nazmije Hoxha, and many other less prominent individuals, now dead. Dead persons in Kosovo election list The serious errors have been spotted by Balkan Insight in spite of efforts by the Central Election Commission, CEC, to update the lists before the parliamentary and municipal elections due in two weeks’ time. One explanation advanced by officials is that Kosovo Albanians do not necessarily register the deaths of their family members to the authorities. Since the authorities may not be aware of these deaths, these deceased people’s names can sometimes remain on the voters’ list. However, it is not possible to put forward that explanation in the case of well-known personalities, such as Rugova, who received the equivalent of a state funeral. The CEC have updated the lists, and also made the database accessible on the internet, where Kosovo residents can check whether they are eligible to vote and also where their polling stations are. The database can be accessed at www.kosovoelections.org It was by checking this database that Balkan Insight became aware of the anomalies. Arianit Osmani, CEC spokesperson, told Balkan Insight that “the last update was done on October 27, after a one-week period for challenging and confirming the voter lists”. Osmani explained that during that period, citizens were able to report irregularities on the voters’ lists, which would then be corrected by CEC. Asked to comment on how several dead people can still appear on the lists, Osmani said that “this is the responsibility of the civil registration office which falls under the competence of the ministry of the interior”. “We receive the lists from that office, and we cannot interfere with them”, Osmani added. Burim Ramdani, adviser to Kosovo’s Minister of the Interior, Blerim Kuci, told Balkan Insight that the ministry could not monitor the deaths in order to remove them from the civil register. “Most of the families do not report the deaths to the municipal registry offices”, Ramadani said, and identified this as the main reason for the problem. “We need the death certificates of people in order to remove them from the civil lists”, he said, noting most people did not report deaths or, reported them only after a long delay.

Dead persons in Kosovo election list

The serious errors have been spotted by Balkan Insight in spite of efforts by the Central Election Commission, CEC, to update the lists before the parliamentary and municipal elections due in two weeks’ time.

One explanation advanced by officials is that Kosovo Albanians do not necessarily register the deaths of their family members to the authorities.

Since the authorities may not be aware of these deaths, these deceased people’s names can sometimes remain on the voters’ list.

However, it is not possible to put forward that explanation in the case of well-known personalities, such as Rugova, who received the equivalent of a state funeral.

The CEC have updated the lists, and also made the database accessible on the internet, where Kosovo residents can check whether they are eligible to vote and also where their polling stations are.

The database can be accessed at www.kosovoelections.org

It was by checking this database that Balkan Insight became aware of the anomalies.

Arianit Osmani, CEC spokesperson, told Balkan Insight that “the last update was done on October 27, after a one-week period for challenging and confirming the voter lists”.

Osmani explained that during that period, citizens were able to report irregularities on the voters’ lists, which would then be corrected by CEC.

Asked to comment on how several dead people can still appear on the lists, Osmani said that “this is the responsibility of the civil registration office which falls under the competence of the ministry of the interior”.

“We receive the lists from that office, and we cannot interfere with them”, Osmani added.

Burim Ramdani, adviser to Kosovo’s Minister of the Interior, Blerim Kuci, told Balkan Insight that the ministry could not monitor the deaths in order to remove them from the civil register.

“Most of the families do not report the deaths to the municipal registry offices”, Ramadani said, and identified this as the main reason for the problem.

“We need the death certificates of people in order to remove them from the civil lists”, he said, noting most people did not report deaths or, reported them only after a long delay.