TIRANA, Albania
Voting ended in Albania's local election on Sunday, with official preliminary data putting the turnout at 45 percent.
Although the Central Election Commission of Albania announced the vote would end at 19.00 local time (1700GMT), it was extended an extra hour at some polling stations.
Albania's citizens headed to the polls to elect 61 mayors as well as municipal council members in the country's seventh local election.
Earlier, the commission said a total of 3,370,206 citizens were eligible to cast their ballots to choose among 157 mayoral candidates, including independents and those representing 63 political parties.
Polling stations opened at 7.00 a.m. (0500GMT) and the process was uneventful.
A large number of international observers, including representatives of the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), monitored the voting.
