Press release

Election simulation for women in the “7 Shtatori” neighborhood in Peja

Peja, September 24, 2013
Today, Tuesday, September 24, 2013, the Non-Governmental Organization Syri i Vizioni and the OSCE, in cooperation with the Municipal Electoral Commission MEC and the Office for Gender Equality in Peja, have organized an election simulation at the community center in the 7th of September neighborhood with women of the Roma, Egyptian and Ashkali communities.
The purpose of this selected simulation was to inform the women of minority communities (Roma, Egyptian and Ashkali) about how important their participation is in the November 3 elections. Also, they have been informed more fully about the electoral process on how to vote even for those women who know how to read and write. The staff of the NGO “Syri i Vizioni”, OSCE and the Office for Gender Equality demonstrated examples of how to vote even if a voter does not know how to read or write.
This has had the effect of raising the awareness of the women of this community that they too should go out to vote, that they too have the right to vote, that their vote is quite important and necessary in the November 3 elections.
Then the voting was improvised with all the necessary means for voting. “Voters” voted on improvised ballots with the names of football players and teams instead of candidates and party lists.
The main problems that emerged during this activity with these women were illiteracy, as many of them do not know how to read or write, fear of family pressure on election day (the head of the family decides which way they should vote, or not allowing to go to the elections at all), the loss of trust in political entities as a result of the very difficult economic and social situation, etc.
Participating women have expressed great interest during the election simulation and have pledged that on November 3 they will also come out to exercise their right to vote.