CEC: Mail-in voters are removed from the lists, they cannot vote in Kosovo either

CEC: Mail-in voters are removed from the lists, they cannot vote in Kosovo either

Any voter outside of Kosovo who registers to vote by mail from abroad will be removed from the voter lists distributed to polling stations on election day in Kosovo.

The names of these voters who register to vote outside Kosovo will remain only on the list of voters outside Kosovo.

This was confirmed to KosovaPress by the spokesperson of the Central Election Commission, Valmir Elezi, who said that it is a legal obligation for the CEC that every voter who registers to vote outside of Kosovo remove their name from the voter list in Kosovo.

The CEC transmits the information individually to all those who apply and manage to register as voters outside Kosovo.

“It is a legal obligation for the CEC to remove each voter who registers to vote from outside Kosovo from the voter list distributed at polling stations on election day in Kosovo. So, a Kosovo citizen who registers to vote outside Kosovo will find his name on the voter list outside Kosovo. The CEC transmits this information individually to all those citizens who apply and manage to successfully register as voters outside Kosovo,” said Elezi.

Elezi also explained the cases when a citizen, after registering as a voter outside Kosovo, requests to be returned to the voter list within Kosovo to physically vote at their polling station.

In this case, Elezi emphasized that a voter registered outside Kosovo can submit a request to the CEC, respectively to the voting service, to be returned to the voting list within Kosovo, and this can be done up to 24 hours before the end of the period for objecting to the voter list.

On July 23, the Central Election Commission opened the deadline for the registration of voters outside Kosovo to vote by mail in the local elections for mayors and municipal assemblies, which will be held on October 12, 2025.

According to the deadline set by the CEC, the period for the registration of voters outside Kosovo will last 38 days, until August 29, 2025. According to the deadlines set by the CEC, the voting period outside Kosovo will begin on September 17 and end on October 11, 2025. This period will be valid for voting only for citizens who will register as voters outside Kosovo during the 38-day registration period.

Unlike the general elections in which Kosovo citizens living abroad had the opportunity to vote at diplomatic missions, in the local elections on October 12, this opportunity will not exist, but only through the mail.