Abstract
The Albanian electoral legislation generally reflects the requirments and recommendation of the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters of the Venice Commission (EC). The comparative analysis highlights the need for intervention in this legislation, in particular in matters relating to: (i) creating favorable conditions for exercising the right to vote for voters residing abroad, (ii) the equality of vote power and equal chances for subjects and candidates part of the electoral race, (iii) gender representation, (iv) facilities for voters with disabilites, (v) establishment ofreliable and impartial election bodies, (vi) decision-making by qualified majority or consensus of the election commissions, (vii) establishing an effective complaints system, (viii) increased opportunities for the involvement of the judicial system, District Courts and Constitutional Court in election issues. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2015.v4n2p77
Highlights
On 8 November 2001 the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly, acting on behalf of the Assembly, adopted Resolution 1264 (2001) inviting the Venice Commission to draft a Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters
Albania as a member of the EC, has been continuesly assisted by Venice Commission, in its efforts to draft an election legislation compatible with the basic principles and legislative rules outlined in the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters [3,4]
The Albanian legislator, because of the absence of mutual trust between the major political parties,has been investing heavily to develop legal procedures aimed at narrowing, to the maximum, spaces that can be used to carry out electoral frauds.The history of drafting electoral legislation is oversaturated with legislative solutions only to reduce opportunities for interpretations and electoral fraud instead of drafting " game rules” that will better enable an electoral process in accordance with the standards.This argument may explain the persistence of all political parties for greater presence of their representatives at all levels of the election administration
Summary
On 8 November 2001 the Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly, acting on behalf of the Assembly, adopted Resolution 1264 (2001) inviting the Venice Commission to draft a Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters. ThisCode was approved by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe at its 2003 session – 1st part and by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe at its Spring session 2003 It is based on five fundamental principles of the Europe’s electoral heritage – universal, equal, free, secret and direct suffrage, and it underlines the necessity of elections to be held at regular intervals. Its objective is the identification of gaps and needs for further improvement of the national legislation This analysis was conducted referring to the five basic principles of the European electoral heritage, legislative rules recommendedby the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters and legislative solutions implemented inother national laws
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