Election season is in full swing in Albania, with general elections set to be held on 11 May 2025. But this year, things will be different. For the first time in Albania’s history, its vast diaspora can vote without having to travel back to the country. While this is good news for millions of Albanians abroad who have long demanded the right to vote, it makes politicians nervous as the results remain impossible to predict.
The 2023 census found that out of 4.6 million Albanian citizens, only some 2.4 million live there. This is one of the reasons behind the low turnout in the last local elections, where around 37% of the 3.6 million registered voters cast a ballot.
Not only are Albanians deeply connected to their home country, even if they have lived abroad for generations, but many invest in property and businesses or dream of returning home one day. Around 10% of the GDP is due to remittances from Albanians abroad, higher than the global average of 5.13%. This makes the diaspora one of the most significant contributors to the country’s economy and has been a key argument behind the demand to vote.
Many Albanians living in Europe or North America also find themselves unable to vote there- thus having no way to exercise democracy at home or abroad.
Since the end of the communist regime and the mass exodus of citizens in the 1990s, Albanians have been asked for the diaspora vote. In 2020, lawmakers voted to give the diaspora vote without having to travel back, but it was never enforced. In 2022, the Constitutional Court ruled that Albnaia’s parliament allowed diaspora voting, but the matter was never discussed due to issues between the parties. Then, at the start of 2024, Albanians abroad started a campaign called “I Want to Vote 2025” to push the matter along.
Finally, on 26 July 2024, Albania’s parliament voted to allow Albanians in the diaspora to vote from abroad in the next parliamentary election. In January, politicians agreed to amend the electoral code to specify that even those with expired Albanian IDs or passports can vote and extend the registration date by 10 days. Voters now have until 4 March to register to take part in the vote.
How it will work in practice
Those outside of Albania can register online via the Electronic Registration Platform on the Central Election Commission (CEC) website or on their official mobile application. Citizens are then invited to create an account and submit an application to vote.
To register, they must upload evidence that they live abroad, for example, a property ownership certificate, rental agreement, proof of residency issued by that country’s government, a utility bill, bank documents or similar. Along with a copy of their Albanian passport or ID card, this will be assessed by the CEC and either approved or rejected. Those with the right to vote will receive a ballot through the post. It must be filled out and posted back to Albania, with all costs covered by the state, in time to be counted on 11 May.
At the time of writing, over 250,000 Albanians living outside the country have registered to vote, and the number continues to rise. So far, 86,414 have been refused, while 3804 are pending review. Those rejected on technicalities can reapply without restriction until the registration deadline.
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Most applications came from Italy, Greece, and Germany, with the average age being 18-25 years.
Of course, it is not guaranteed that all those will vote, and those who do will return their ballots on time and correctly.
Albania is not the only country with a large diaspora keen to vote. In neighbouring Kosova, 80% of registered diaspora voters voted in the 9 February 2025 general elections. Over 15,000 voted at diplomatic missions, while the rest voted via post.
In North Macedonia in 2024, some 2954 citizens in the diaspora registered to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections, but as the threshold of 5,355 was not met, they only voted for the president.
Meanwhile, in Serbia, citizens can vote at polling stations set up in countries with a significant Serbian population. In the 2022
What it will mean for the results
While polls in Albania show a comfortable lead for the Socialist Party, it is impossible to gauge the vote of the diaspora. Currently, no polls assess their voting preferences, and it is difficult to understand who favors which party. All parties, even smaller independent parties, have engaged in events in the US, UK, Italy, and Greece, holding large rallies and discussions with voters.
The vote comes amid a particularly tense time for Albanian politics. The ruling party has seen six former mayors and two former ministers convicted, with others investigated, a former deputy prime minister on the run, and the mayor of Tirana on prison arrest. Furthermore, this would be their fourth mandate, securing Rama a total of 16 years in power.
Meanwhile, the opposition PD split into two, one led by Sali Berisha and the other by Lulzim Basha. This led to a power struggle that saw Berisha emerge victorious with Basha, who has yet to formally register his Euro-Atlantic Democrats as a party in this election. However, Berisha was on house arrest for a year, is persona non grata in the US, and is still under investigation for corruption.
Another opposition leader, Ilir Meta, head of the Freedom Party, is in prison while being investigated for corruption.
But what are the other options? Smaller parties like Nisma Thurje, Levizja Bashke, Shqiperia Behet, and Mundesia are all in the running. Still, they are unlikely to win any seats, as all polls are in single digits, according to Euronews Albania.
One of the problems facing smaller parties is funding, with them relying mainly on donations from the diaspora, paid online. The lack of financial resources impacts their ability to canvas internationally, with Shqiperia Behet and Mundesia managing international meetings
But are the main parties worried about the diaspora voting for smaller parties? PS MP Lavdrim Krashi said that while they are not concerned per se, it does mean there is an element of pressure to work harder for the votes that perhaps was not there before. He explained that those in the diaspora are outside the traditional sphere of media and party influence and will take more measured decisions, thus, parties must up their game to win them over.
Furthermore, the difficulty of polling the diaspora vote has made politicians even more nervous. With 250,000 votes coming from abroad, this is enough to make or break a party and completely change the outcome of the national vote.
