The Supreme Court of Kosovo has reviewed five administrative complaints filed against decisions of the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP), related to the final results of the Early Elections for the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.
All five complaints were rejected as unfounded.
Të lidhura
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Through judgment AA.nr.29/2026, the Supreme Court dismissed as unfounded the complaint of the Serb List, filed against ECAP decision ZP.Anr.56/2026.
In its complaint, the Serb List had claimed that the political entity “GI – Za Slobodu, Pravdu i Opstanak” (ZSPO) had won the reserved mandate for the Serb community mainly thanks to votes received in municipalities and polling stations with an Albanian majority, arguing that in this way the constitutional purpose of authentic representation of the Serb community had been undermined.
The Supreme Court found that these claims do not stand. According to its reasoning, the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo and the Law on General Elections define the vote as personal, equal, free and secret, while the Voters List does not contain data on the ethnic affiliation of voters. Consequently, there is no legal basis for the validity or legal effect of a vote to be conditioned by the voter’s ethnic affiliation or by the demographic composition of the place where it was cast.
The Court also found that the complainant had not provided concrete evidence proving vote manipulation or any other electoral irregularity affecting the result. According to the Court, the claims were based on assumptions and statistical comparisons, which do not constitute a legal basis for intervening in the election result. It was also assessed that the very political entity that won the contested mandate is a registered entity for the representation of the Serb community, and therefore it cannot be considered that the constitutional mechanism of guaranteed seats was undermined.
With judgment AA.nr.30/2026, the Supreme Court also rejected as unfounded the complaint of candidate Emilija Rexhepi, from the political entity Nova Demokratska Stranka (NDS), filed against ECAP decision ZP.Anr.57/2026.
Rexhepi had challenged the ECAP decision by claiming that there was a discrepancy between the demographic structure of the settlement and the election result, and had requested the annulment of these votes for the purpose of allocating the guaranteed mandate for the Bosniak community.
The Court found that the complainant’s claims were based on statistical and demographic interpretations, which do not provide a legal basis to contest the validity of votes or the election result. According to it, the electoral legislation of the Republic of Kosovo does not recognize the ethnic structure of the population as a criterion for assessing the legality of voting or election results.
The Supreme Court also emphasized that the Voters List does not contain data on the ethnic affiliation of voters, while the Central Election Commission does not collect, administer or process such data. Consequently, there is no legal basis for ballots to be declared invalid on the basis of assumptions related to the ethnic affiliation of voters.
The panel of the Supreme Court further found that the complainant had not presented clear and convincing evidence of vote manipulation, interference in the voting process, breach of the chain of custody or violations of electoral procedures, as provided for in the Law on General Elections.
In judgment AA.nr.31/2026, the Supreme Court also dismissed as unfounded another complaint by candidate Emilija Rexhepi, from Nova Demokratska Stranka (NDS), filed against ECAP decision ZP.A.nr.58/2026.
In this case, the complainant had requested verification of the legality of the use of votes won by the political entity Za Slobodu, Pravdu i Opstanak (ZSPO) in six polling centers in the Municipality of Prizren. She claimed that these votes had been obtained in settlements with a Bosniak-majority community and that this should be verified in order to protect the guaranteed seats for the Serb community.
The Supreme Court found that the ECAP decision was correct and supported by law, since the electoral legislation does not link the validity of the vote to the ethnic affiliation of the voter and there is no constitutional or legal basis for votes to be assessed according to the ethnic structure of a settlement.
According to the Court, the right to vote is individual and every citizen is free to vote for the political entity of their choice, regardless of ethnic affiliation.
The Court also recalled that the Constitution simultaneously guarantees the individual right to vote and the mechanism of guaranteed seats for non-majority communities, but these guarantees do not give electoral bodies or courts the right to categorize votes according to the ethnic affiliation of voters or to draw conclusions about their validity on the basis of demographic data.
The Court also found that the complainant had not provided concrete evidence of ballot manipulation, interference with election materials or any other violation of the electoral process. According to it, a statistical discrepancy between the demographic structure of settlements and the number of votes received by a political entity, in the absence of evidence of electoral irregularities and a clear legal basis, cannot produce legal consequences regarding the validity of votes or the election result.
With judgment AA.nr.32/2026, the Supreme Court rejected as unfounded the complaint of Bekim Haxhiu, a candidate for deputy in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo from the political entity Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), filed against ECAP decision ZP.Anr.54/2026.
Haxhiu had claimed that the ECAP decision was based on an incorrect and incomplete determination of the facts, on the incorrect application of substantive and procedural electoral law, and that his constitutional rights to be elected, procedural equality and the right to an effective legal remedy had been violated.
He had requested a full recount of the preferential votes of PDK candidates in polling stations that were not included in the sample of 185 polling stations.
The Supreme Court found that the complainant had not presented sufficient evidence to justify a full recount, while the report of the Central Election Commission (CEC) on the recount of 185 polling stations did not constitute a sufficient basis for such action.
According to the Court, the corrections identified or reflected in the report do not create an objective basis for concluding that the counting process was characterized by systematic irregularities. The nature and distribution of these corrections, in its assessment, show that they were sporadic and did not reach such a level as to undermine the credibility of the final result or the integrity of the counting process.
Meanwhile, with judgment AA.nr.33/2026, the Supreme Court rejected as unfounded the complaint of parliamentary candidate Qëndrim Kryeziu, from the political entity Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), headquartered in Prishtina, filed against ECAP decision ZP.Anr.55/2026.
Kryeziu had claimed that ECAP had wrongly treated his complaint as a matter already adjudicated, even though, according to him, the complaint raised a broader issue concerning the credibility of the final result of the PDK list. He argued that the changes identified in 90 of 110 PDK candidates, at a time when only a small portion of the votes had been verified, raised doubts about the accuracy of the final result. He also claimed that the CEC report proved the existence of a systematic flaw in the initial counting process and requested a full recount of the preferential votes of PDK candidates, as well as the suspension of certification of the election result until the completion of this process.
After reviewing the case file, the Supreme Court found that ECAP had properly addressed the complainant’s claims and had concluded that the complaint was unfounded. The Court found that the claims presented were based on the same data and recount results that had also been reviewed earlier, while the CEC report did not prove the existence of systematic irregularities that would require a full recount of votes. It was also found that the recount of 185 polling stations had been carried out within the control mechanisms provided for by electoral legislation and not as a result of a finding of systematic irregularities in the counting process.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court found that the ECAP decisions were made in accordance with the Constitution and Law no. 08/L-228 on General Elections in the Republic of Kosovo, while the appellate claims were not supported by convincing evidence that would justify intervention in the final election results.
