The Council of Europe organises a study visit for the seven members of the Central Election Commission of Albania to gather good practices from the conduct of the Parliamentary Elections in Finland of 19 April. The study visit has been organised in fruitful cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Justice of Finland.

The aim of the study visit is to familiarise with the organisation and conduct of the Parliamentary Elections in Finland with a view to gather experiences for the upcoming local elections in Albania, scheduled for 21 June 2015.

The members of the Commission will hold exchanges with high level public servants from the Finnish election administration. They will also have the opportunity to visit some polling stations during election day, and will be invited to the Kallion Virastotalo to observe the counting of advance votes and the tabulation of results by the electoral district committee of Helsinki.

This activity is organised in the framework of the Council of Europe’s programme for pre-electoral assistance in view of the upcoming local elections in Albania scheduled for 21 June 2015. The programme also addresses the capacity-building of election commissioners from election administration zones (CEAZ), voting centers (VCC) and ballot counting centers (BCC). A set of measures aimed at enhancing voter education and raise awareness on the importance of voting, especially among first-time voters, will also be organised throughout the country.