Election Management in Albania. The creation of democratic legitimacy through the integrity of the vote.

Abstract: In light of recent EU expansion and the eventual proposed accession of western Balkans countries to the EU, the case of Albania has come to the forefront of dialogue in respect to eventual integration of the country. Throughout numerous reports, the EU has noted that the beginning of Albania's accession dialogue is contingent upon the upcoming national elections in July 2006 being "free and fair". The main purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the mismanagement of elections can create an obstacle for elections in a country to function in a free and fair way. More specifically, the study explored in what ways the mismanagement of elections infringed upon the democratic principle of the "integrity of the vote" during the 2003 Albanian local government elections. The conclusion reached was that there were numerous cases in which the integrity of the vote was compromised through a lack of independence of election managment bodies, as well as overt political interference throughout the election.