After the completion of the vote counting and verification process in South Mitrovica, 75 ballots with problems with the serial number were found.
The news was announced by Bajram Hajdari, chairman of the Municipal Electoral Commission and manager of the Municipal Counting Center.
"According to a preliminary verification, there are 75 ballots that belong to both candidates and are related to technical errors. Some of them were copied in the presence of the Police and then submitted, while now the matter is with the competent authorities," said Hajdari.
He added that there is no information about unsealed ballots, but if they have been noticed, they have been placed in the appropriate envelope. After the completion of the process, the election materials are being prepared to be sent to the Counting and Results Center (CNR) in Fushë-Kosovo Polje.
On the other hand, Ilir Gashi, a PDK member of the Central Election Commission (CEC), stated that the process has numerous defects that violate the electoral regulations and suggested that South Mitrovica should go to a rerun. “Almost in all polling stations there are defects that contradict the electoral regulations. We will conduct an analysis and an investigative commission to verify the authenticity of the ballots,” said Gashi, adding that the matter should also be passed into the hands of the justice system to restore citizens’ trust in the electoral process.
Three days after the end of the election race, ballots with different serial numbers were found in several boxes, raising allegations of irregularities by the PDK and its partners. The PDK has claimed that some ballots that should have been in other polling stations were found in different polling stations.
On the other hand, Sami Kurteshi from the Vetëvendosje Movement at the CEC did not give any statements to the media.
On the first day of counting, on November 10, 2025, the Mitrovica Prosecutor's Office ordered the suspension of the process due to the initial allegations. A day later, the CEC published a clarification from the company CETIS, according to which the problem was related to technical errors in the printing of the ballots. CETIS accepted responsibility and emphasized that the ballots contain security elements that make them impossible to forge.
Following clarifications from the CEC, the Prosecutor's Office issued an order to resume the vote counting. However, PDK representatives have filed a complaint with the Electoral Panel for Complaints and Appeals, requesting a re-vote for South Mitrovica.
After the resumption of the count, party commissioners have reported new irregularities during the vote count of the runoff held on November 9, 2025 for mayor.
