Kosovo elections, heavy suspicions over final results
A month after the December 28 general elections, a general recount is underway in Kosovo, sparked by heavy suspicions of fraud and manipulation of the election results
PHOTO-2026-01-26-14-03-00_1
Vote recounting in Kosovo - A.Berisha
A month after the 28 December 2025 elections in Kosovo, votes are being recounted nationwide following strong suspicions that candidates from major political parties were involved in vote manipulation through their representatives in Municipality Counting Centers.
One of the most scandalous cases involves Fetah Pacarizi from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), who was unduly assigned around 6,000 additional votes, but large-scale manipulation of votes within municipal counting centers is being exposed.
Last Friday, the Central Election Commission has announced that the process of recounting from 2,557 polling stations has been completed at the Counting and Results Center (CRC). “The CEC made these decisions on recounting with the aim of guaranteeing the accuracy of the electoral results and ensuring that the will of the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo is recorded and reflected accurately, exactly as it was expressed on the ballot papers”, stated the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The Kosovo Police arrested more than 100 commissioners of major political parties in the municipality of Prizren alone on suspicion of vote manipulation. More than twenty of them are currently in pretrial detention, and they belong to all four major political parties, LVV, AAK, PDK, and LDK, as well as the Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (KDTP).
Officials from the CEC said that discrepancies were identified after reviewing video recordings from cameras installed at counting tables.
“We took action because it was openly visible; today we have uncovered evidence and instances of bribery, as one of the commissioners has continued to cooperate with the prosecution,” said prosecutor Petrit Kryeziu in a press conference.
On the other hand, political parties have quietly distanced themselves from the scandal.
In a Facebook post, Albin Kurti, leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, which won the elections, blamed individuals but did not mention the political parties or candidates involved.
He said that Kosovo remains an example of democracy in the region and emphasized that all cases must be addressed according to the law and the political will expressed through voting.
“Commissioners and individuals who have engaged in vote manipulation within political entities, harming colleagues and political parties, will not be granted amnesty. We encourage the responsible institutions to take investigations to the very end,” Kurti said.
Meanwhile, Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), whose party lost votes since February 2025, warned of serious consequences for those interfering with the system and alleged that the interference targets the reform process he initiated and disproportionately harms young candidates.
“What is happening in several cities is not a coincidence. It is resistance from those who have eroded our house from within and now want to stop the reform they cannot tolerate. The attack on new and clean names is an attack on our five-year work and on the will of supporters, clearly expressed through free voting,” Abdixhiku posted on Facebook.
An isolated case?
In Kosovo’s electoral process, each voter has one finger marked with black ink before entering the polling station. While this policy dates to the UNMIK administration in 1999–2000, it continues to be implemented by Kosovo institutions to ensure that voters cannot vote more than once.
The European Union Election Observation Mission, in its statement about the February 2025 elections, categorized finger ink as an additional security measure to prevent multiple voting. “However, the EU observers noted that voters’ fingers were not consistently checked for traces of ink in 15% of observations. Moreover, they reported that the ink marking on fingers could be removed,” reads the statement.
Throughout 2025 – January’s parliamentary elections that failed to produce institutions, the local elections, and the recent round – political parties raised suspicions of vote manipulation.
For example, the Vetëvendosje Movement raised concerns regarding assisted voting, saying that young voters were assisted in violation of regulations. In addition, Vetëvendosje suspects that diaspora votes sent by mail in the February 2025 elections were manipulated, accusing the LDK of involvement.
According to the Law on General Elections, Kosovo is a single electoral constituency. The counting of ballots for political parties in elections for the Assembly of Kosovo is conducted at polling stations after voting ends, while the counting of votes for deputy candidates takes place in 38 Municipal Counting Centers.
In addition to counting votes, these centers also verify results for political entities based on forms completed at polling stations after ballot counting. This is a new policy introduced in 2023, and has been questioned by civil society representatives due to concerns about manipulation.
Kosovo elections, heavy suspicions over final results
A month after the December 28 general elections, a general recount is underway in Kosovo, sparked by heavy suspicions of fraud and manipulation of the election results
PHOTO-2026-01-26-14-03-00_1
Vote recounting in Kosovo - A.Berisha
A month after the 28 December 2025 elections in Kosovo, votes are being recounted nationwide following strong suspicions that candidates from major political parties were involved in vote manipulation through their representatives in Municipality Counting Centers.
One of the most scandalous cases involves Fetah Pacarizi from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), who was unduly assigned around 6,000 additional votes, but large-scale manipulation of votes within municipal counting centers is being exposed.
Last Friday, the Central Election Commission has announced that the process of recounting from 2,557 polling stations has been completed at the Counting and Results Center (CRC). “The CEC made these decisions on recounting with the aim of guaranteeing the accuracy of the electoral results and ensuring that the will of the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo is recorded and reflected accurately, exactly as it was expressed on the ballot papers”, stated the Central Election Commission (CEC).
The Kosovo Police arrested more than 100 commissioners of major political parties in the municipality of Prizren alone on suspicion of vote manipulation. More than twenty of them are currently in pretrial detention, and they belong to all four major political parties, LVV, AAK, PDK, and LDK, as well as the Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (KDTP).
Officials from the CEC said that discrepancies were identified after reviewing video recordings from cameras installed at counting tables.
“We took action because it was openly visible; today we have uncovered evidence and instances of bribery, as one of the commissioners has continued to cooperate with the prosecution,” said prosecutor Petrit Kryeziu in a press conference.
On the other hand, political parties have quietly distanced themselves from the scandal.
In a Facebook post, Albin Kurti, leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, which won the elections, blamed individuals but did not mention the political parties or candidates involved.
He said that Kosovo remains an example of democracy in the region and emphasized that all cases must be addressed according to the law and the political will expressed through voting.
“Commissioners and individuals who have engaged in vote manipulation within political entities, harming colleagues and political parties, will not be granted amnesty. We encourage the responsible institutions to take investigations to the very end,” Kurti said.
Meanwhile, Lumir Abdixhiku, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), whose party lost votes since February 2025, warned of serious consequences for those interfering with the system and alleged that the interference targets the reform process he initiated and disproportionately harms young candidates.
“What is happening in several cities is not a coincidence. It is resistance from those who have eroded our house from within and now want to stop the reform they cannot tolerate. The attack on new and clean names is an attack on our five-year work and on the will of supporters, clearly expressed through free voting,” Abdixhiku posted on Facebook.
An isolated case?
In Kosovo’s electoral process, each voter has one finger marked with black ink before entering the polling station. While this policy dates to the UNMIK administration in 1999–2000, it continues to be implemented by Kosovo institutions to ensure that voters cannot vote more than once.
The European Union Election Observation Mission, in its statement about the February 2025 elections, categorized finger ink as an additional security measure to prevent multiple voting. “However, the EU observers noted that voters’ fingers were not consistently checked for traces of ink in 15% of observations. Moreover, they reported that the ink marking on fingers could be removed,” reads the statement.
Throughout 2025 – January’s parliamentary elections that failed to produce institutions, the local elections, and the recent round – political parties raised suspicions of vote manipulation.
For example, the Vetëvendosje Movement raised concerns regarding assisted voting, saying that young voters were assisted in violation of regulations. In addition, Vetëvendosje suspects that diaspora votes sent by mail in the February 2025 elections were manipulated, accusing the LDK of involvement.
According to the Law on General Elections, Kosovo is a single electoral constituency. The counting of ballots for political parties in elections for the Assembly of Kosovo is conducted at polling stations after voting ends, while the counting of votes for deputy candidates takes place in 38 Municipal Counting Centers.
In addition to counting votes, these centers also verify results for political entities based on forms completed at polling stations after ballot counting. This is a new policy introduced in 2023, and has been questioned by civil society representatives due to concerns about manipulation.
