Prilep, 10 July 2026 (MIA) - It is very important to allow the diaspora to vote. We are talking about people who annually bring over a billion to Macedonia in remittance. With the progress of digitization, three years is enough time for us to test such possibilities so we can make this right possible for our diaspora, Minister of Digital Transformation Stefan Andonovski told journalists on Friday in Prilep.

Andonovski stressed the diaspora should participate in the country’s elections since it invests in and supports the Macedonian economy. 

“We are talking about people who annually bring over a billion to Macedonia in remittance. Which means they support the Macedonian economy, they support their compatriots living here, their families, friends, they open their own businesses. We have a large diaspora living abroad with Macedonian passports, and it isn’t fair and it isn’t a realization of their constitutional right if we only allow them to vote in person, making them travel 5.000 or 10.000 kilometers to register and then again to cast their ballot,” Andonovski said.

Andonovski said the proposed amendments to the Electoral Code envisage the country having a system in place by 2029 that would enable only registered Macedonian passport holders who live abroad to vote online.

“We have a digital identity system, that's the uslugi.gov.mk website in which all citizens register with their personal data. We verify once that they are the ones registering, with their ID or passport. So, we already have the citizens’ data. It doesn’t pose a problem for us to further develop the system in cooperation with the State Election Commission to meet the conditions and allow the citizens to fulfill their electoral rights and cast their ballots. Of course, it is possible if the political will is there,” Andonovski said.

The Minister said two EU member states have fully implemented such a system, while four others have tested it.

“With the progress of digitization, three years is enough time for us to test such possibilities so we can make this right possible for our diaspora,” Andonovski said.

Photo: MIA