Less than 9 percent voted in Kosovo's parliamentary elections by 11 AM

(Patria) - By 11 AM, 169,032 voters with the right to vote had cast their ballots in Kosovo's parliamentary elections, or 8.58 percent, announced the Central Election Commission in Pristina.

Based on data from 2,343 out of a total of 2,533 polling stations, compared to the previous elections in 2021 by 11 AM, 8.30 percent of voters had cast their ballots, meaning that 20,000 more voters have cast their ballots so far in today's elections.

Regular parliamentary elections are being held in Kosovo today. 1,280 candidates are competing for 120 seats in the Assembly of Kosovo. 2,075,868 voters have the right to vote for one of the 28 electoral lists, of whom about one hundred thousand are outside Kosovo.

In the Assembly of Kosovo, ten guaranteed seats belong to the Serb community, and ten to other minorities.

The electoral rivals to Self-Determination, the ruling party of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, are the Democratic League and the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

The main contender for the guaranteed seats of the Serb community is the Serb List, supported by official Belgrade. Regular parliamentary elections in Kosovo are being held for the first time since 2007. In the meantime, extraordinary elections have been held five times.

The elections are being monitored by over 18,000 observers. Polling stations will remain open until 7 PM. Yesterday, Kosovo citizens voted in diplomatic-consular missions.

Osmani and Kurti stated that the elections are important for strengthening democracy

I hope that all our citizens will take this opportunity and vote for their representatives, said the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani.

After voting in today's elections, she emphasized that the elections are very important for Kosovo to further develop democracy.

She added that it is essentially important to build institutions.

"I hope that all our citizens will take this opportunity and vote for their representatives," Osmani said.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti said after voting in Pristina that every citizen of Kosovo should exercise their right to vote and thus decide on the next four years in Kosovo.

"Today is a new day in a sunny winter, and this is an exceptional opportunity for the first regular parliamentary elections in an independent Kosovo," he added.