Nearly 100.000 invalid ballots have been counted following the first round of local elections. Of these, 45.551 are for mayors and 51.681 for municipal councils. This is a dramatic rise in the number of invalid ballots.

In the first analysis of this incidence, a conclusion can be made that this is due to at least two reasons. The first reason is the problematic election material for which CIVIL was extensively reporting about during the election day.

The second, more important reason is the “protest voting”, that is, voters are deliberately invalidating the ballot. Voters in this way express their protest, or warning to the candidates running for office at the local level. If at one time voters often voted “against” and not “for” a given political party, now they are expressing distrust towards all the participants in the election race.

At last year’s early parliamentary elections there were 38.000 invalid ballots, a number for which CIVIL demanded special expertise, but was not accepted. This number is now a dramatic warning of the voters also to the local authorities. CIVIL is announcing that the analysis of this phenomenon will continue and that it will present new, more detailed analyses after the election process has completed.

Xh.D.