Over 3.7M voters to cast ballots in Albania’s general election

ANKARA / TIRANA, Albania

More than 3.7 million registered voters in Albania will head to the polls Sunday in the country’s 11th general election since the fall of its communist regime in 1991.

A total of around 3.71 million voters are eligible to elect members of the 140-seat parliament, with 53 political parties and three pre-election coalitions competing.

Voting will take place 7 am-7 pm local time (0500-1700GMT) across 5,225 polling stations.

For the first time, nearly 246,000 registered citizens abroad will also be able to vote by email or postal ballot, with that process also closing at 7 pm local time on Sunday.

Under Albania's electoral law, a party must get at least 1% of the national vote to enter parliament.

In polls, Prime Minister Edi Rama’s ruling Socialist Party has been in the lead, while the main opposition Democratic Party under former Prime Minister Sali Berisha also seen as a frontrunner.

Berisha's bloc, the Great Albania Alliance, includes 25 allied parties.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will deploy about 100 observers for the election.