Report: Irregularities tarnish Kosovo poll

A TV program claims to have revealed irregularities in Kosovo’s November 17 elections. BIRN said on its website that its "Life in Kosovo", transmitted by Kosovo’s public service broadcaster, RTK, showed exclusive footage of several irregularities at a polling station in Sllatina e Eperme village in Vitina municipality in the south-east. Report: Irregularities tarnish Kosovo poll Video material showed members of a polling station’s commission filling in empty ballot papers while the station was closed sometime around 1300 hours local time. “There’s somebody in there who is filling in many ballot papers”, said Ilir Murtezi, a journalist with a local TV station, who filmed the material from outside through a window. Murtezi explained that the polling station was locked from inside and that “members of the commission, who are all relatives, were voting instead of other people”. “Now the video shows a person putting all these voting slips into a ballot box”, Murtezi narrated as the footage was played. In further material transmitted in the program members of the local election commission were filmed signing the voting reports on behalf of colleagues who were not present. “All I can say is that this is not me”, said Fahredin Hoxha, a member of the commission, when he saw someone else signing the final voting report on his behalf. “At the time when this was filmed I had already left the polling station precisely because of many irregularities”, Hoxha added. Sven Lindholm, spokesperson of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which was supervising the parliamentary and local elections in Kosovo, said that such incidents were a matter to be addressed to the electoral Complaints Commission. “I am not going to defend what is happening here”, Lindholm said after watching the video material. Leon Malazogu from the civil society coalition, Democracy in Action, that monitored the elections, said that the observers noted other incidents as well but they were all minor. Malazogu said that his coalition could not monitor every polling station due to its limited number of observers. “There were some irregularities. However their level and the impact they might have in the elections is still to be determined”, Malazogu said. Shortly before the elections Balkan Insight revealed that Kosovo’s online register of voters, updated at the end of October, included the late President Ibrahim Rugova, who died in January 2006, and several other prominent individuals who were no longer alive. “Life in Kosovo”, broadcast once a week, is Kosovo’s most-watched current affairs program. It is produced by the Kosovo team of BIRN, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, which publishes Balkan Insight.

Report: Irregularities tarnish Kosovo poll

Video material showed members of a polling station’s commission filling in empty ballot papers while the station was closed sometime around 1300 hours local time.

“There’s somebody in there who is filling in many ballot papers”, said Ilir Murtezi, a journalist with a local TV station, who filmed the material from outside through a window.

Murtezi explained that the polling station was locked from inside and that “members of the commission, who are all relatives, were voting instead of other people”.

“Now the video shows a person putting all these voting slips into a ballot box”, Murtezi narrated as the footage was played.

In further material transmitted in the program members of the local election commission were filmed signing the voting reports on behalf of colleagues who were not present.

“All I can say is that this is not me”, said Fahredin Hoxha, a member of the commission, when he saw someone else signing the final voting report on his behalf.

“At the time when this was filmed I had already left the polling station precisely because of many irregularities”, Hoxha added.

Sven Lindholm, spokesperson of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which was supervising the parliamentary and local elections in Kosovo, said that such incidents were a matter to be addressed to the electoral Complaints Commission.

“I am not going to defend what is happening here”, Lindholm said after watching the video material.

Leon Malazogu from the civil society coalition, Democracy in Action, that monitored the elections, said that the observers noted other incidents as well but they were all minor.

Malazogu said that his coalition could not monitor every polling station due to its limited number of observers.

“There were some irregularities. However their level and the impact they might have in the elections is still to be determined”, Malazogu said.

Shortly before the elections Balkan Insight revealed that Kosovo’s online register of voters, updated at the end of October, included the late President Ibrahim Rugova, who died in January 2006, and several other prominent individuals who were no longer alive.

“Life in Kosovo”, broadcast once a week, is Kosovo’s most-watched current affairs program.

It is produced by the Kosovo team of BIRN, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, which publishes Balkan Insight.