- Title: ALBANIA: EVE OF ELECTION
- Date: 28th June 1997
- Summary: TIRANA AND RINAS, ALBANIA (JUNE 28, 1997) (RTV) RINAS, ALBANIA (JUNE 28, 1997) (RTV) 1. SLV BALLOT PAPERS ON FORKLIFT TRUCK AT AIRPORT / VARIOUS OF CORRECTED BALLOTS ARRIVING/ CARRIED OFF ON TRUCK (6 SHOTS) 0.57 TIRANA, ALBANIA (JUNE 28, 1997) (RTV) 2. SLV CHILDREN SINGING AND WAVING ELECTION POSTERS OUTSIDE TIRANA POLLING STATION/ ELECTION OFFICIALS SETTING UP POLLING BOOTHS (4 SHOTS) 1.31 3. SCU DISTRICT COUNTING OFFICE/ MAN ORGANISING ELECTION PAPERS AND MATERIALS/ ELECTION WORKERS PACKING ENVELOPES WITH ELECTION MATERIALS1.41 4. SV TIRANA RESIDENTS READING POLLING LISTS AND VOTER INFORMATION SHEETS POSTED IN SHOP WINDOW/ PEOPLE CHECKING LISTS (6 SHOTS) 2.26 5. SLV POLICE ROAD BLOCK AND TANK CONTROLLING TRAFFIC AT ENTRANCE POINT TO CAPITAL CITY OF TIRANA (3 SHOTS) 2.50 Initials S3 P3 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 13th July 1997 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: TIRANA AND RINAS, ALBANIA
- City:
- Country: Albania
- Reuters ID: LVA4RST5APV84EYBW08W9PZHXYI
- Story Text: INTRO: An uneasy calm has descended on Albania on the eve of the first round of elections designed to halt the nation's slide into anarchy, but there are doubts the polling will be problem-free.
Italian soldiers on Saturday (June 28) unloaded 200,000 corrected ballot papers from an air force transport in Tirana less than 24 hours before polls open in Albanian general elections, after many ballots were found to include mistakes.
The faulty ballot-papers, printed in Italy as part of the international effort to ensure a safe and democratic poll, had included incorrect lists of candidates for some polling districts in Albania's mountainous north.
Corrected papers were to be handed over to Albanian electoral authorities who are running the elections under the scrutiny of hundreds of international monitors coordinated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The incorrect ballot papers were to be burned on Saturday evening by Italian soldiers.
On Friday the OSCE monitors fanned out across the country, accompanied by soldiers from the 6,500-strong Italian-led multinational force.
The troops will not be directly involved with ensuring security at polling stations but have guaranteed the safety of OSCE monitors.
Violence in the last few months in Albania has left at least 1,500 people dead provoking fears of further outbreaks of violence around the polls.
Many Albanians blame incumbent President Salli Berisha for the collapse of fraudulent pyramid investment schemes which collapsed leaving many Albanians destitute.
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