Friday, May 08, 2015

Since March, the Albanian Academy of Political Studies is implementing an awareness raising campaign addressing about 35 000 first time voters in all the secondary schools in Albania. This programme is part of the Council of Europe action plan to support the local elections on 21 June 2015 in Albania and benefits also from the generous contribution of the Swiss Embassy in Tirana. The awareness campaign, which is closely coordinated with the Ministry of Education and Sport (MoES) and the Central Electoral Commission (CEC), consists of a series of three classes, which are finalised with an election simulation exercise. The aim of this exercise is help first time voters understand and experience the voting process in respect to all the criteria and provisions of the electoral code. Therefore, all the elements of a voting process are identified and put in place during the simulation. Moreover, the students will get an understanding on how to identify and avoid malpractices during the voting process, such as, for instance, the family voting. The implementation of this programe is based on the experience gained from the last campaigns during the elections of 2011 and 2013 and also on the APS resources and expertise.