Albanian PM Edi Rama’s Socialist Party-back candidate in the repeat municipal election in the coastal town of Himare won on Sunday, amid heightened criticism by ethnic Greek minority leaders in the neighboring country over ballot rigging.

The repeat election comes after the previous poll in May 2023, when Fredi Beleri won by the slimmest of margins days after Albanian police arrested him on controversial claims of ballot buying. He remained in remand pending trial, was prevented from taking the oath of office and subsequently convicted and handed down a two-year prison sentence in what he, his supporters and official Athens charged was a “judicial conspiracy” and “sham trial”. While serving the sentence he was again prevented from using a furlough to take the oath of office, and moreover, was disqualified due to the conviction.

In the repeat election on Sunday, the candidate backed by Rama, Vangjel Tavo, picked up 58.26% of the vote (4,858 ballots) to 41.38% for Petraq Gjikuria (3,400 votes).

Two of the most prominent criticisms aired immediately after the urgent election process were an assertion that some 300 new voters – from outside the municipality – had been registered in the months before Sunday’s poll, and that voters with expired Albanian IDs were prevented from voting – in contrast to previous such elections where they were allowed to do so. As a result, residents of Himare outside the country, in Greece and Italy, could not come back for a few days to vote. Instead, they would have had to submitted paperwork ahead of time in order to acquire a new ID.

On his part, Beleri, who was elected as a European Parliament deputy two months ago on the ticket of Greece’s ruling party, New Democracy (ND), again condemned Rama for what he called a “manipulation” of election results. He pointed directly to the “first-ever” ban against voters holding expired IDs.

Tavo, on his part, thanked Rama for his support, while calling on his opponent to assume the post of deputy mayor of Himare.

The township in coastal southeast Albania is home to a historic and sizable ethnic Greek minority. Himare is also within the so-called “Albanian Riviera”, a coastal strip that has attracted immense investor interest for mostly tourism-related projects over the years.