Officials say Albania parliamentary election free of incidents, ballots being counted

September 15th, 2009 KABUL - Election authorities said Tuesday they would recount ballots from around 10 percent of the polling stations in last month's presidential vote due to indications of fraud. The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered the recount after receiving more than 2,000 complaints of fraud, with hundreds of them said to be serious enough to affect the outcome.

September 7th, 2009 Quake in Albania causes damage no injuriesTIRANA, Albania — Albanian authorities say an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.4 in the northeast of the country caused some damage but no injuries. The Albanian Institute of Seismology says the quake struck at 11:49 p.m.

July 30th, 2009 House acts to improve absentee ballot trackingWASHINGTON — The government would help states track absentee ballots and verify to voters that their votes are actually received and counted under legislation that passed the House on Thursday. The bill, passed by voice vote, directs the Election Assistance Commission to reimburse states for costs related to establishing absentee ballot tracking programs for federal elections.

July 27th, 2009 Albanian prime minister's re-election confirmedTIRANA, Albania — Albanian officials confirmed Monday that Prime Minister Sali Berisha's party has won re-election following a lengthy recount process. Election officials said Berisha's Democrats won 68 seats in the June 28 general election, while allies set to join the next government won two seats in the 140-seat parliament.

July 8th, 2009 Indonesians vote calmly in presidential electionJAKARTA, Indonesia — Indonesians voted in their emerging democracy's second direct presidential election, with the incumbent expected to win a single-round victory on the back of recent economic and political stability. An unofficial quick count at 2,000 polling stations with a fifth of ballots counted gave President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 54 percent of the vote, which would be enough to avoid a runoff in September.

July 6th, 2009 Bulgarian conservatives win election by big marginSOFIA, Bulgaria — Official results confirm Bulgaria's conservative opposition has won parliamentary elections by a wide margin. Outgoing Socialist Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev conceded defeat hours after polls closed late Sunday, clearing the way for Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov to form the next government.

July 4th, 2009 Albanian opposition threatens street protestsTIRANA, Albania — Albania's opposition Socialists charged Saturday that the ruling Democrats were improperly trying to influence the country's lengthy vote count by declaring victory before all ballots from last week's national election were tallied. Albania joined NATO in April and has been under intense international pressure to ensure the June 28 vote was free of the fraud that marred the first six elections held after the Balkan country's communist regime fell in 1990.

July 1st, 2009 Albania: Democrats claim election victoryTIRANA, Albania — Albania's governing Democrats claimed Wednesday they won weekend parliamentary elections, but the opposition Socialists accused Prime Minister Sali Berisha's party of attempting to snatch victory. Near complete results showed the Democrats were ahead by just over one percentage point, but it was unclear whether Berisha had secured enough seats in parliament needed to govern alone.

June 29th, 2009 Observers say flaws in Albania vote countTIRANA, Albania — International observers said on Friday that political interference had delayed the vote count of last month's general election in Albania. Some 500 international election observers have been monitoring Albania's election process, considered an important test for the tiny Balkan country's progress of democracy.

June 29th, 2009 OSCE says still problems with Albania voteTIRANA, Albania — Albania's governing party was in a close race with the Socialist opposition on Monday as the votes were counted in the country's parliamentary election. The ballot is seen as a crucial test of the Balkan country's hopes of EU membership, and a preliminary report by international election observers found signs of both improvement and violations.

June 28th, 2009 Albania votes in election seen as test for EU bidTIRANA, Albania — Albanians were voting Sunday in parliamentary elections seen as a crucial test of democracy to prove the Balkan country is ready for EU membership. Albania is under international pressure to make sure the vote is fair and free of the reports of fraud that have marred previous elections.

June 28th, 2009 Albania votes in parliamentary electionTIRANA, Albania — Albanians on Sunday started voting in parliamentary elections seen as a key test of the country's political maturity as it eyes European Union membership. Voting started at 7 a.m.

June 28th, 2009 Pollsters say P.M. Berisha leads Albania electionsTIRANA, Albania — Early exit polls are indicating that Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha's Democratic Party has won another term in office in parliamentary elections Sunday.

June 18th, 2009 Explosion kills politician in AlbaniaTIRANA, Albania — An explosive device killed a conservative politician as he drove through northern Albania on Thursday, 10 days ahead of the country's parliamentary election, police said. The leader of the victim's political party called it a terrorist attack, but police suggested organized crime groups may have been responsible.

May 16th, 2009 BHOPAL - Counting of votes for all the 29 parliamentary seats in Madhya Pradesh began simultaneously in 50 district headquarters across the state Saturday with the postal ballots being tabulated in the first round. 'Counting of EVM votes is being preceded by counting of postal ballots.