freedom of and vote family voting in albania

38 Pages·2014·2.25 MB·English

Freedom oF ANd
Vote FAmily VotiNg
iN AlbANiA
National Study
2014
2 Freedom of Vote and Family Voting in Albania
Team of Authors - IDRA Team of Survey Coordina- Data Processing
Auron Pasha tors team
Enfrid Islami Esjona Kryemadhi Tedi Coka
Jorida Dervishi Fatjola Gora Pjerina Dodbiba
Pjerina Dodbiba Ela Koci Elvis Bektasha
Fajket Agalliu Fjorinda Lazi
Suela Dokaj
Consultant
Phd. Klea Faniko, Gender Expert
UN Women Albania
Ma. Fiorela Shalsi, National Programme Manager of Leadership and Political Participation
Conceiver of the study and Gender Expert
Year of publication - 2014
© Institute for Development Research and Alternatives - IDRA
UN WOMEN
UN Women is the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women. It promotes women and girls globally. UN
Women was created to accelerate the advancement of women and the fulfilment of women’s rights all over the globe.
UN Women acts under the fundamental conviction that women and girls everywhere in the world are entitled to a life free from discrimina-
tion, violence and poverty and that gender equality is at the focus of development.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right, but its achievement also empowers women in the developing countries, promotes
productivity and brings about economic growth.
Institute for Development Research and Alternatives (IDRA)
IDRA is a non-profit, non-governmental and non-partisan independent think-tank established by a group of experienced researchers in 2000.
As a public policy institute, IDRA promotes the values of freedom and democracy, free market economy, and civil society, and continuously
serving the democratization of the Albanian society and the process of integration into the European Union. IDRA represents a strategic
combination of the research, advocacy and education-oriented think tank.
DISCLAIMER
This study has been prepared by Institute for Development Research and Alternatives (IDRA) with the technical and financial support of the United
Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) in Albania in the framework of “Leadership and Political Partici-
pation” Programme. This programme is funded by the Swedish Government through the UN Coherence Fund and it is part of the ‘Government of
Albania and United Nations Programme of Cooperation 2012-2016’.
The opinions and views expressed in this study are of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of UN Women or United Nations Agencies.
National Study 2014 3
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms.............................................................................................................................4
1. Executive Summary.............................................................................................................5
2. Introduction .........................................................................................................................9
2.1 Study Objectives......................................................................................................................9
2.2 Research Context....................................................................................................................9
Women’s Political Representation and Participation.........................................................10
Family Voting: Definitions and Current Situation................................................................11
Family Voting: International Legal Framework...................................................................12
2.3 Research Methodology.........................................................................................................14
Quantitative Survey..............................................................................................................14
Qualitative Component........................................................................................................15
Margin of Error.....................................................................................................................15
3. Main Findings - General Population Sample..........................................................................16
3.1 Interest In Politics and Civic Engagement...........................................................................16
3.2 Family Voting and Voting Behaviour...................................................................................19
3.3 Women Participation in Politics..........................................................................................24
3.4 Women’s Perception of Freedom.......................................................................................30
4. Main Findings - Roma Sample................................................................................................31
4.1 General Information...................................................................................................................31
4.2 Family Voting and Voting Behaviour.......................................................................................33
5. Recommendations...................................................................................................................37
4 Freedom of Vote and Family Voting in Albania
List of Acronyms
OSCE Organization for Security and Development in Europe
ACER Albanian Center for Economic Research
ASET Albanian Socio Economic Think Tank
CEC Central Election Commission
VC Voting Center
ODIHR Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights
UNDP United Nations Development Program
FG Focus Group
MP Member of Parliament
IDRA Institute for Development Research & Alternatives
HU Household Unit
PSU Primary Sampling Unit
CEAZ Commissions of Electoral Administration Zone
NGO Non Governmental Organization
BCC Ballot Casting Center
National Study 2014 5
1. Executive Summary
Interest in Politics and Civic Engagement
• The majority of the population, especially women, takes very • Findings from the survey deliver an optimistic message in terms
low interest in politics. One in three respondents (34%) is “not of support for participation of women in the decision making
at all interested in politics”, while an additional 18% show very process: About 93% of the respondents would support wom-
low levels of interest towards these matters (“not too interest- en participation in politics as “candidates for public office”.
ed”). Only 18% of respondents declare to be “very interested”
• While the majority of Albanians would support a greater par-
in matters of politics and government. The breakdown by gen-
ticipation of women in politics, there is a considerable part of
der clearly shows that women are particularly less interested in
the population, even among women, that thinks “men make
politics (38% of women vs. 29% of men declaring to be “not
better political leaders than women”. 58% of male and 38%
at all interested”).
of female respondents agree that “men make better political
• Civic engagement, measured by respondent-declared member- leaders than women”. Such findings may suggest that while
ship levels in different political and civil society organizations, is “higher participation of women in politics” may be the correct
weak overall. Only 1 in 10 respondents declares to be a mem- political stance, it is not a widespread and fully acceptable be-
ber of a political party, 1 in 30 respondents declares to be part lief. It resembles more to “talking the talk but not walking the
of a religious group and negligible numbers declare to be part walk”.
of civil society organizations/NGOs. Women’s level of participa-
• The perception on the inability of women to make decisions of
tion in these organizations is even lower. Almost 9 in 10 adult
a political nature is more visible in respondents with no proper
women declare to have never been a political party member,
education, or with a relatively low education.
compared to 7 out of 10 men declaring the same. 93% of
women have never been part of any women organization and
95% have never been part of any other NGOs or community
Family Voting and Voting Behavior
organized groups
• Overall, there is a high level of voter participation among Alba-
• Women show much lower levels of civic activism even in terms
nian residential population. About 88% of respondents declare
of using various instruments/ways to express their opinions on
to have participated in the 2013 elections, without any gender-
political or social issues. Only 12% of women declare to have
based differences.
contacted a public official in the last 12 months to express their
concerns. Such figure is two times lower than the percentage • The vast majority of respondents declare that they felt “com-
of males who declare the same (25% of male respondents have pletely free” when making their decision on whom to vote on
contacted a public official during the last 12 months). An even 2013 elections (95%). No differences were noted between men
more concerning issue is that 41% of women declare that they and women respondents. Such findings suggest that direct,
would never contact or visit a public official in order to express obvious or violent pressure on voters to vote against their will,
their opinion on political or social matters, far more than the has not been highly present. It does not however rule out the
number of males who declare the same (25%). The use of so- possibility that votes were promised in return for various fa-
cial networks (Facebook, Twitter etc.) to express opinions on vors. Indeed, about 43% of respondents declare to know cases
political or social issues is also very low (8% of males and 6% in which votes were promised in return for favors. Particularly,
of females declare to have used them for this purpose). Peti- voting to “keep the current job” or “get a job after elections”,
tions, protests/demonstrations or media are also among the and voting in return “for money or for gifts” are mentioned as
least used instruments to express one’s opinion on political or frequent phenomena encountered by more than one third of
social matters. the respondents.
6 Freedom of Vote and Family Voting in Albania
• Family voting starts at home and is often perceived as an act of • Survey results show that there is a slightly decreasing rate of
representing the family’s interests and/or status (if a woman’s women “being assisted” at the voting booths on Election Day,
family does not go out to vote on the election day, then it is in a manner which goes beyond voter assistance provided for
very likely that she will not do so either,). The results of this by the electoral law in Albania. In 93% of cases during the
study show that the phenomenon of family voting is currently 2013 parliamentary elections, women went into the voting
present in less direct forms compared to the classic examples booth unaccompanied by any family members. Only 7% of
reported in the Public Perception Survey on women’s and girls’ women interviewed claimed they were not alone in the vot-
participation in politics (2008), Albania’s 2009 Parliamentary ing booth. There is a slight improvement compared to a 2009
Election: Monitoring the Implementation of Gender Quota and survey, where in 9% of cases “Women voted in the presence of
Women’s Participation (2009), and The Situation of Women another person in the voting booth” (Monitoring of the Imple-
Leaders at the Local Level in Albania, A Baseline Analysis (2010), mentation of Gender Quota, ACER & ASET, 2009).
and Women and girls in Local Elections, Forum of Local Observ-
• Focus Group discussions revealed that the perception about
ers for monitoring the participation of women and girls in elec-
family voting practices being a concern on Election Day is still
tion (2011). In most of these studies, it has been reported that
present among general public. According to them the phenom-
a family member has accompanied a woman into the voting
enon is mostly observed in remote, rural areas of the country.
booth and has voted on her behalf. However, based on focus
The reasons such practices still prevail in these areas vary from
group discussions, Family voting seems to be a phenomenon
the low level of education, to poverty, high unemployment, the
which starts at home. Participants claim they discuss their vot-
inability of women to oppose family pressure (mostly due to
ing tendencies and political beliefs at home with their families,
financial dependency and lack of awareness) and family struc-
while some women eventually give in to pressure from differ-
tures (the head, usually the elder, takes decisions on behalf of
ent family members to vote for a specific party or candidate.
the entire family). However, there is a common belief among
• Only 5% of the respondents claimed the VC commissions al- citizens that the phenomenon occurrence has been decreasing
lowed more than one person to walk in the voting booths si- in recent years. When compared to findings from the “Moni-
multaneously on voting day in 2013. Despite being just a proxy toring Report on the Implementation of Gender Quota and
for “family voting”, (as there are cases allowable by law when Women’s Participation” in 2009, and those from the “Women
somebody can be accompanied in the voting booth) this fig- and girls in Local Elections, Forum of Local Observers for moni-
ure appears to be lower than the figures reported in different toring the participation of women and girls in elections” (2011),
election monitoring reports of the past elections (2009, 2011 as well as according to focus group participants, the phenome-
or 2013). The 2013 OSCE Election Observation Report on the non of “family voting”, manifested through direct forms inside
General Elections in 2013 claimed “instances of group/family the voting center, appears to have been less present in the 2013
voting were observed in 13% of VCs and more frequently in ru- parliamentary elections.
ral areas” while in the 2011 OSCE/ODHIR Report this figure was
• About 7% of female respondents said they have been pres-
“26% of the visited VCs”. The comparison is however not fully
sured by a male family member to vote for a specific party or
compatible. The figure reported by the IDRA National Survey
candidate. However, even if the survey findings does not show
of 2013 indicates the cases where citizens have encountered
personal experience of the family voting phenomenon, the ma-
this phenomenon during their voting process, whereas figures
jority of respondents think that the vote of women in Albania
reported by the monitoring missions are based on observations
does not always reflect their own will, but rather the will of
of the visited voting centers.
their male family members instead. A series of findings shows
National Study 2014 7
that awareness on the existence of the phenomenon usually and it is the man who should make decisions on behalf of the
depends on the socio-demographic background of the person women when it comes to political issues. 1 in 3 men and 1 in
interviewed. 5 women do not think that “man and women have the same
capabilities for decision making”.
o A gender breakdown shows that more female re-
spondents (60%) claim women in Albania are often • Respondents from rural areas are also more prone to think that
under pressure from a male family member to vote women are not capable of making political decisions, and that
for a specific party or candidate( 55% of male re- in general, men are better political leaders than women.
spondents believe the same).
• Similar to research figures in the 2012 report on “Women’s
o Respondents with a high education, or in the pro- participation in politics and decision making in Albania”, there
cess of finishing one in Albania, are often more is a positive perception about women involved in politics and
aware of the fact that the votes of women in Al- decision making. The majority of respondents (84% of females,
bania do not always reflect their will. Respondents 81% of males) and FG participants show appreciation for their
without any proper education or with elementary abilities and contribution in the progress of Albanian society in
education deny the claim according to which male different areas. Women’s contribution in the areas of human
members pressure women in the family to vote for rights protection, education, health policies and social issues,
a specific candidate or party. is especially valued by participants in focus group discussions.
Generally, female respondents are more supportive of partici-
o Respondents of an older age are the ones who
pation of women in politics compared to male respondents.
mostly ignore the existence of such a phenomenon
95% of female respondents would support participation of
in the families. Similar to previous years, the groups
women in politics, compared to 90% of men who would do
which are more prone to accept the existences of
the same.
such a phenomenon are women/men under the
age of 30. Consequently, this group is still less likely o Respondents with a higher level of education tend
to be influenced in their voting decision by family to be more supportive towards participation of
members. women in politics when compared to respondents
with a lower grade of education.
o Respondents from rural areas are the ones who
mostly deny the pressure exerted on women/ o Support for the participation of women in politics is
girls from the male family members. The denial of lower among respondents living in rural areas.
the existence of the phenomenon of family vot-
o The number of women who do not support an in-
ing seems to be higher especially in the regions of
creased participation of women/girls in politics is
Lezha, Kukes, Durres, and Shkodra.
very small (5%). However, a more careful analysis
of this sample would reveal that women with a
lower education, those who have attended a voca-
Women Participation and Decision-making
tional school, those who are currently unemployed,
• The vast majority of respondents think that women do possess housewives, as well as female respondents who are
the capacities to decide on political issues (87%). However, still currently retired, seem to be more skeptical on the
1 in 6 men believes that women do not have these capacities involvement of women in politics.
8 Freedom of Vote and Family Voting in Albania
• There is however progress, compared to previous years, (2010, • Respondents who are informed on gender quotas are more
2012) in terms of women behavior towards females running for supportive of the implementation of such requirements com-
important public positions. Respondents and focus group par- pared to those who do not have the proper information.
ticipants are convinced that an increased number of females in
• There is however, a generally high support about the introduc-
charge of decision making institutions will offer more solutions
tion of gender quota in politics or elected bodies. About 83%
about women and community problems.
of respondents would support such quota with 45% “strongly
supporting” and 38% “somewhat supporting” it. Only 9% of
respondents would oppose such quota. Men are generally less
Gender Quotas Awareness and Support
supportive of the gender quotas, and many of them think of
• Albanians are not properly informed on the purpose of gender quotas as artificial means for increasing participation of women
quotas in politics, or how they are to be implemented. 1 in 2 in politics. Generally, male respondents believe quotas often
respondents knows that it is a requirement for political parties disregard women’s qualifications and skills.
to reserve at least 30% of their candidates’ list for women.
The other half either do not know or they wrongly nominate
the quota. Similar to the report on “The Situation of Women
Leaders at the Local Level in Albania” in 2010, there is a general
awareness about the existence of a gender quota law, but few
participants can provide details on what these quotas actually
mean, and how they are supposed to be implemented.
• Even more disappointing is the fact that women/girls are gener-
ally less informed on the specific purpose of these quotas. Gen-
der breakdown shows that there are less female respondents
(41%) who are aware of the gender quotas requirements, com-
pared to men (53%).
o Respondents with a higher education are generally
more aware of the purpose of gender quotas com-
pared to those with a lower education.
o Respondents falling within the 41-50 age groups
also seem to be better informed on gender quotas.
o Respondents living in urban areas are generally bet-
ter informed on gender quotas and their purpose
compared to those who live in rural areas.
National Study 2014 9
2. Introduction
2.1 Study objectives The main results and recommendations of the study will also con-
tribute to define the main issues to be addressed through UN
The overall objective of this study is to elicit citizen opinions on Women, as well as other actors, on women participation in de-
different practices that might intervene with the freedom of voting cision making and to better understand and explain perceptions
as well as understand and identify the current systemic flaws be- of the electoral process, voter information needs, as well as voter
hind the high occurrence of such practices. The study also aims at behavior in Albania.
describing the practice of family voting1 in Albania while providing
recommendations on how to tackle it. Furthermore, the study aims at unifying understanding on family
voting as a phenomenon and establishing a baseline to measure
Other objectives of the study are to (i) compare the progress (or progress or regress throughout the years.
regress) with the previous monitoring reports supported by UN
Women and other actors and (ii) establish a baseline of comparison
including the legal reference to the family voting and other ma- 2.2 Research Context
licious practices. Through desk reasearch, a comparison baseline
Women’s Political Representation and Participation
with all the previous (2009-2013) publications statistics, informa-
tiona and other reports supported by UN Women and other actors Women’s participation in politics and decision-making is a continu-
about Gender issues related to freedom of voting, family voting ous challenge that Albania is facing throughout these democracy-
and other voting malpractices, was conducted. building years. Despite a perceived relative increase in the aware-
ness on gender issues in Albania, the situation of women in the
Upon this analysis, the study provides concrete recommendations country still needs improving. Several studies and reports claim that
on future interventions to improve women access in the electoral women’s participation in politics and decision making continues to
processes and to tackle family voting practices both institutionally be restricted due to several reasons, mostly related to gender ste-
and culturally. reotypes on the ability of women to engage in the field2.
The high frequency of “family voting” is an indicator used for the Low political representation in elected bodies is a challenge,
assessment on the level of accomplishment of democratic stan- among others, that women currently have to face in Albania.
dards in electoral processes. This report therefore aims at present- Gender legal provisions introduced in 2008 and 2009, with the
ing a multidimensional picture of the situation of women in Albania aim of guaranteeing proper representation for women, have not
in regards to their voting behavior, their level of civic engagement been fully implemented and observed by responsible institutions
in society, their involvement in the decision making process in im- so far. As a result, there is limited representation of women, albeit
portant public positions, as well as the public support for participa- it is better at the national level than the local level. Based on CEC
tion of women in Albania in various areas. results for the 2011 local elections in Albania, only 3 out of 65
1. Family voting is a practice where a family member casts votes on behalf of the entire family or where one member of the family pressures other
members to vote for a certain candidate
2. See article on “WOMEN IN POLITICS AND DECISION-MAKING IN ALBANIA: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS”; Elona Dhembo; The Journal of Inter-
national Social Research, 2010. See also study on : MAPPING WOMEN’S ECONOMIC SITUATION in Tirana, Vlora , Shkodra and Elbasan; by Milva
Ekonomi, Mirela Arqimandriti; Gender Alliance for Development Center ; supported by UN Women.
10 Freedom of Vote and Family Voting in Albania
Heads of Municipalities in Albania are currently females3. In 2011, (AIDEC) stated that “although the level of participation in voting
24.3% of civil servants in senior management and 39.2% of civil was high amongst women, the participation of women/girls in lo-
servants in middle management were females4. cal elections campaign activities was low”5. According to this re-
port: “In 99 electoral activities which were monitored in different
Representation of women in elected bodies has seen a slight im-
regions6, only 33% of the participants were women/girls”
provement after the last electoral process in June 2013. Women
earned 18, 6 % of seats in the latest parliamentary elections on
June 2013 in Albania, compared to 16, 4 % in 2009. Additionally,
6 out of 19 (32%) cabinet ministers and 8 out of 23(34%) vice min-
Family Voting: Definitions and Current situation
isters in the current government are women. Other women have
been appointed as heads of highly important government depart- Several election monitoring reports cited herein, both from local
ments such as the General Directorate of Taxation, Customs, etc). and international observers, claim that one of the major challenges
for the participation of women in electoral processes in Albania is
In January 2014, Albania ranked 74th (out of 145 countries) in the
the phenomenon of “Family Voting”. According to these reports,
UN Women World Ranking, based on the percentage of women in
unicameral parliaments or the lower house of the parliament. The women in Albania are either subject to pressure in order to vote for
country saw an improvement in its ranking compared to January a candidate who they do not necessarily support, or pressured not
2011, when it ranked in the 82nd position. to vote at all.
While political representation of women in elected bodies is still
Based on a report on “Consolidated Response on the Prevention of
low, their participation in voting is generally high. The data from
Family Voting” by the International Knowledge Network of Women
CEC collected for the first time during 2011 local elections show
that women/girls represented 50.2% of all voters from the report- in Politics (2009), “Family Voting” might include cases in which:
ed voting centers. There is no available data on women participa- a) A male family member accompanies one or more
tion in 2013 general election, but it generally believed that the level female relatives into a polling booth
of participation is approximately the same. It is worth noting that
b) Family groups vote together in the open
these elctions saw the highest percentage of voter turnout (53,5%)
in democratic times in Albania. c) A male family member obtains ballot papers on be-
half of other family members and marks them as he
However, high level of participation in voting does not necessary
sees fit
mean high level of participation in political activities. A 2011 report
by the Albanian Institute for the Development of Election Systems
3. Open Data, “Gender relations in the list of mayors 2000-2015”. Available at open.data.al
4. Idem
5. WOMEN AND GIRLS IN LOCAL ELECTIONS”, May, 2011; Albanian Institute for the Development of Election Systems (AIDEC) & Klea Faniko; (Supported
by UN Women).
6. The report monitored the regions of Gjirokastra, Vlora, Korca, Tirana, Shkodra and Kukes.