Kosovo citizens went to the polls June 11th for parliamentary elections after a 10-day campaign season and a period of political uncertainty. In the run up to the elections, USAID/Kosovo supported a coalition of over 40 local organizations – called Democracy in Action (DiA) – to recruit, train, and deploy a cohort of approximately 5,000 citizen monitors in polling stations throughout Kosovo on Election Day. The coalition also conducted voter registration to encourage first-time voters, training on how to properly report irregularities, and advocated for elections free of fraud, corruption, and intimidation. On June 8th, Ambassador Delawie spoke at a DiA awards ceremony to recognize the five best videos from their anti-corruption campaign for the election: #AsUne/#NeitherDoI, which urged voters not to support corrupt candidates. At the ceremony, the Ambassador expressed his appreciation for Kosovo’s citizen election monitors, noting that “Kosovo’s own citizens are in the best position to assess and report any irregularities.” He also spoke at a June 9th DiA roundtable on electoral justice, where he reiterated U.S. neutrality in the election, highlighted U.S. support to fair and credible elections, and urged the commitment of state institutions on the electoral fraud task force to act effectively on Election Day.
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