Analysis of Albanian Legislation and Perceptions of Voters Relevant to the Right to Vote for National Minorities

Abstract

Analysis of the legislation, perceptions and opinions of Albanian citizens, belonging to national minorities, for the right to vote, the value and opportunities offered in exercise of this fundamental human right are the subject of this paper. For the first time in the Albanian legislation this right is treated in the Constitution of Albania, 1950 and in the electoral law drafted in its implementation. During the period of dictatorship the political rights of national minorities did not differ from that of other citizens but, as for all other citizens they were only formal. The Constitution of Albania, 1998 stipulates that persons belonging to national minorities exercise their rights and freedoms in full equality before the law. As citizens of the Republic they have the right to vote and to stand for election. There is no discriminatory provision in the current Albanian legislation, just as there are no special, favorable provisions for voters belonging to these minorities. International observers of the OCSE / ODIHR elections from 2003 onwards have praised the efforts made in the Albanian legislation on the right to vote and its exercise by voters belonging to national minorities in Albania The results of the analysis of the perceptions and opinions of voters belonging to national minorities on the right to vote, the conditions for exercising it and the opportunities they have to be represented, through Prof. Asoc. Dr. PhD in Public right, Dean, Faculty of Political Science and Law, “Aleksandër Moisiu” University, Durrës, Albania. E-mail: andon.kume@gmail.com. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0669-7753 DOI :10.51655/ejl.2021.3