The CEC re-elects Ilirjan Celibashi as Chairman

[09. 16. 2004] The Central Elections Commission held a meeting today to elect its chair, after the expiration of the 6-month partial mandate of Chairman Ilirjan Celibashi, elected on March 1, 2004.

Based on the Electoral Code, the Central Elections Commission meeting was chaired by the oldest-in-age member, Mr. Tomorr Malaj, who presented to the other members and the political parties representatives, the legal procedure to follow in order to elect the new chairperson.

In the conclusion of the voting procedures, Mr. Celibashi received the majority of the votes and according to the Electoral Code, he is elected Chairman of the Central Elections Commission.

Annual Conference of ACEEEO ends its three–day proceedings in Tirana

[09. 14. 2004] The delegations from 21 member countries of the Association of Central and Eastern Europe Election Officials (ACEEEO) concluded on Saturday the three-day proceedings of the Annual Conference held in Tirana during September 9 - 11, 2004.

The Annual Conference of ACEEEO in Tirana brought together around 140 participants from the Central Elections Commissions of ACEEEO member countries, institutions specialized on elections as well as companies producing election infrastructure. The works of the Conference were chaired by the Chairman of the Central Elections Commission of Albania, Mr. Ilirjan Celibashi, in the capacity of the President of ACEEEO.

The central topic of the three-day discussion was increase of voters turnout in election processes as the low turnout is not just an Albanian phenomenon, but a regional and European too. As President of ACEEEEO, Mr. Celibashi called on to the Presidents of CEC-s from Central and Eastern Europe to analyze reasons of the fall in voters turnout and find out the most efficient ways to stop this negative trend.

Heads of the Central Elections Commissions from the Central and Eastern Europe held long discussions with the high representatives of ODIHR and the Council of Europe, who were attending the Conference. The Secretary General of ACEEEO, which is based in Budapest, announced that his group was willing to give financial support to the Albanian CEC on issues such as the voters list and increase of the voters turnout.

Present in the opening of ACEEEO Conference (which for the first time has an Albanian President unanimously elected) were also the Ambassador of European Commission to Tirana, Mr. Lutz. Saltzman, the OSCE Ambassador to Albania, Osmo Lipponen as well as the deputy Chief of Mission in US Embassy to Tirana, Steve Zate. The ambassadors of the 21 member countries of ACEEEO were also present.

In their opinions, the participating delegations considered the organization of the Conference excellent and the works of the conference as really successful. A delegation of ACEEEO led by Mr. Celibashi was also received by the President of the Republic of Albania, Mr. Alfred Moisiu.

ACEEEO annual conference - Tirana 2004

[09. 06. 2004] ACEEEO is a non-governmental organization founded in 1991, operating independently of parties and governments. Our organization has 21 institutional members. ACEEEO is enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe. In 2004 the ACEEEO became associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations. The Association’s primary objective is to foster free, democratic and fair elections and provide a forum for the exchange of information on election and political processes among election officials and scientific experts.

The Association of Central and Eastern European Electoral Officials (ACEEEO) in co-operation with Central Election Commission of Albania and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) organize its annual conference, “Voter Turnout with special regard to the first time voters”. The conference will be held between 9th and 11th of September in Albania, Sheraton Tirana Hotel and Towers. According to the tradition of ACEEEO annual conferences, there will be two exhibitions during the conference: Election History Exhibition and Exhibition of the Suppliers of Election Equipment and Services.

Prospectively there will be 120 participants on the conference, from 25 countries. During the conference several international experts are going to deliver a speech on these topics. There will be a possibility to discuss important and current issues with various international organizations and bodies such as OSCE-ODIHR (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), IFES, European Commission, Council of Europe, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, International IDEA (Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance), international NGOs and Central Election Commissions from all of the world.

The main topics of the conference are Voter turnout and first time voters. The fundamental condition of the countries’ democratic function is the largest rate of electors who participate at the elections, because this is the most effective way to provide the legitimacy of the legislative bodies, and to provide the public interest. One of the central issues is the topic of the first voters, because in these young ages is the easiest to become accustomed to the participation.
The official press conference will be in the Room Ilirija 1 of the Sheraton Tirana Hotel and Towers on the first day, from 10.00 to 10.45, on 9 September.

We would like to inform the inquirers that the whole conference is open to the representatives of the media.