Elections in Albania

Regular elections in Albania are mandated by the Constitution and legislation enacted by Parliament. The Parliament (Kuvendi) has 140 members elected for four-year terms.[1] The electoral system is open list proportional representation. There are 12 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the country's 12 administrative regions. Within any constituency, parties must meet a threshold of 3 percent of votes, and pre-election coalitions must meet a threshold of 5 percent of votes.[2][3][4]

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This electoral system replaced a mixed-member system in November 2008.[5] Under the old system, 100 members were elected directly in single member constituencies with approximately equal numbers of voters. 40 were elected from multi-name lists of parties or party coalitions according to their ranking. The total number of deputies of a party or a party coalition was to be, to the closest possible extent, proportional to the valid votes won by that party or coalition on the national scale in the first round of elections. Parties that received less than 2.5% and coalitions that received less than 4% of the valid votes on the national scale in the first round of elections did not benefit from the respective multi-name list.

The change was criticised by the smaller parties, but supported by the two main parties. It was considered an important step towards Albania's European integration. Other changes included limiting the prosecutor general's term to five years, forcing an early election in case of a no-confidence vote and reducing the majority required to elect the president from three-fifths to half the MPs.[6]

The president is elected by parliament.

Albania has a multi-party system, with two or three strong parties and several other parties that are electorally successful.

History

On 31 March 1991, the first pluralist elections were held in the country.[7] The elections were conducted with a clean majority system in 250 constituencies.[8] 98.2% of voters took part in the voting. The participating parties registered a total of 1,074 candidates while 17 of the candidates were independent. The final election results declared the Labor Party the winner with 56.17% of the vote. The Democratic Party won 38.71% of the vote, the Republican Party 1.77%, the Omonia Organization 0.73%, the Agrarian Party 0.07% and the Veterans Committee 0.28%. With a 250-seat parliament, the results were translated into 169 deputies for the Labor Party, the Democratic Party 75 deputies, Omonia 5 deputies and the Veterans Committee 1 deputy. The Democratic Party achieved high results and received a larger number of deputies compared to the Labor Party in the main cities such as: Durrës (13 deputies out of 19 in total), Shkodër (16 out of 19 in total), Tirana (19 out of 29). Whereas in Krujë and Vlorë the number of deputies of the two major parties was equal.[8] This was considered a great victory for the DP given that the communist party that had ruled the country for about 50 years still continued to have strong control over the population, especially in those living in rural areas and still doubting that the dictatorship would fall.[9]

On 8 May 2000, the Albanian Parliament approved the Electoral Code only with the votes of the Socialists, which had an overwhelming majority in the assembly that emerged from the 1997 elections.[10] The Democratic Party rejected the Electoral Code in its entirety due to the composition of the Central Election Commission (KQZ or CEC) of 6 members. They boycotted his approval in parliament even though he had attended most of the roundtables organized for the debate over the Electoral Code. According to the new Electoral Code, voting in Albania would be based on a mixed, majority-proportional electoral system. From where 100 deputies, in the 140-seat parliament, would be elected by majority vote from single-member constituencies, while 40 seats were filled by national multi-member lists of political parties in order to achieve a proportional approach between nationally received votes and deputies which represented a political party in the assembly. To win a proportional mandate, political parties had to cross the 2.5% electoral threshold, while coalitions had to cross the 4% threshold.[11]

Latest election
See also: 2021 parliamentary elections of Albania
PartyVotes%Seats+/–
Socialist Party of Albania768,13448.67740
Democratic Party – Alliance for Change622,18739.4359+13
Socialist Movement for Integration107,5386.814–15
Social Democratic Party of Albania35,4752.253+2
Nisma Thurje10,2170.650New
Democratic Conviction8,2390.520New
Movement for Change7,0540.450New
Albanian Democratic Movement Party4,7050.300New
New Movement Party3,7670.240New
New Democracy Alliance Party3,2320.200New
Albanian National Front Party1,9460.120New
People's Union Alliance Coalition1,3760.090New
Independents4,2470.270New
Total1,578,117100.001400
Valid votes1,578,11795.00
Invalid/blank votes83,0595.00
Total votes1,661,176100.00
Registered voters/turnout3,588,86946.29
Source: KQZ

By county
County PS PD-AN LSI PSD Total
seats
Berat52007
Dibër23005
Durrës860014
Elbasan860014
Fier961016
Gjirokastër31004
Korçë650011
Kukës12003
Lezhë34007
Shkodër351211
Tirana18152136
Vlorë840012
Total745943140

List of elections
See also: List of political parties in Albania

Parliamentary elections

This is a list of parliamentary elections in Albania from the year 1921 till present day. Direct presidential elections have not been held.[12][13]

No. Legislature Date Candidates Registered voters Turnout %
1 National Council 5 April 1921 65
2 Constitutional Assembly 27 December 1923 95
3 Deputies Chamber - Senate 17 May 1925 49/16
4 Constituent Assembly/Parliament 17 August 1928 49
5 Parliament 11 November 1932 54
6 Parliament 31 January 1937 57
7 National Assembly/Parliament 1 October 1943 193
8 Constitutional Assembly/People's Assembly 2 December 1945 101 603,566 89.9
9 People's Assembly 28 May 1950 116 641,241 99.4
10 People's Assembly 30 May 1954 129 702,476 99.9
11 People's Assembly 1 June 1958 180 788,250 100
12 People's Assembly 3 June 1962 210 889,875 100
13 People's Assembly 10 July 1966 234 978,161 100
14 People's Assembly 20 September 1970 261 1,097,123 100
15 People's Assembly 6 October 1974 238 1,248,530 100
16 People's Assembly 12 November 1978 250 1,436,289 100
17 People's Assembly 14 November 1982 250 1,627,968 100
18 People's Assembly 1 February 1987 250 1,830,653 100
19 Constitutional Assembly 31 March 1991 250 1,977,516 98.6
20 People's Assembly 22 March 1992 130 2,021,169 90.4
21 People's Assembly 26 May 1996 140 2,204,002 89.1
22 Assembly 29 June 1997 150 1,947,235 72.6
23 Assembly 24 June 2001 135 2,499,238 53.6
24 Assembly 3 July 2005 140 2,850,821 48.0
25 Assembly 28 June 2009 140 3,084,946 50.8
26 Assembly 23 June 2013 140 3,271,885 53.5
27 Assembly 25 June 2017 140 3,452,324 46.8
28 Assembly 25 April 2021 140 3,588,869 46.3

Local elections

The candidates column lists only the number of candidates for mayor of the municipality. It does not include candidates for member of the municipal council.[14]

No. Date Candidates Registered voters Turnout %
1 26 July 1992 357 1,988,795 70.7
2 20, 27 October 1996 357 58.5
3 1, 15 October 2000 374 2,329,639 50.7
4 12 October 2003 373 2,703,608 45.7
5 18 February 2007 373 2,929,293 46.3
6 8 May 2011 373 3,166,279 50.9
7 21 June 2015 61 3,372,471 47.3
8 30 June 2019 61 812,249 22.9
Partial elections were held on
1 September and 3 November 2013, 25 June 2017.[15]

See also

References
  1. "1998 CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA" (PDF). osce.org. p. 12. Archived from the original on 2017-11-02. Retrieved 2021-01-02. The Assembly consists of 140 deputies. One hundred deputies are elected directly in single member electoral zones with an approximately equal number of voters. Forty deputies are elected from multi-name lists of parties or party coalitions according to their ranking
  2. "Exit Explains: What the Changes to the Electoral Code Mean for Voters". Exit - Explaining Albania. 2020-10-07. Retrieved 2023-03-16.
  3. "IFES Election Guide | Country Profile: Albania". Archived from the original on 2021-01-02. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  4. "PART XII ALLOCATION OF SEATS". THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA (English translation by OSCE) (pdf). p. 140. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  5. "Albanian parliament adopts new electoral law — EUbusiness.com - business, legal and economic news and information from the European Union". Archived from the original on 2009-07-06. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  6. Ex-communist Albania changes voting system in constitutional shake up - International Herald Tribune
  7. "ALBANIA: parliamentary elections Kuvendi Popullor, 1991". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  8. The 1991 Elections in Albania (PDF). Tirana: National Republican Institute for International Affairs. 1991. p. 7.
  9. Zogaj, Preç (2014). Fillimet (in Albanian) (2nd ed.). UET Press. p. 349. ISBN 9789928190185.
  10. "ALBANIA: parliamentary elections Kuvendi Popullor, 1997". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  11. "Kodi Zgjedhor i Republikës së Shqipërisë, Ligj Nr.8609, datë 08.05.2000". Center of Official Publications. Tirana. 8 May 2000. Archived from the original on 2021-11-14.
  12. "A e dini se këto janë zgjedhjet e 27 parlamentare në Shqipëri?!". Gazeta Express. Retrieved 2017-12-27.
  13. Political Parties of Eastern Europe
  14. Historia e zgjedhjeve lokale në Shqipëri
  15. "Më 25 qershor, zgjedhjet parlamentare dhe ato lokale në Kavajë".
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