Wrote: Fatbardh Dema
During the election campaign (September 13 - October 12) for the local elections in Kosovo, on social media such as Facebook and TikTok, hibrid.info managed to find and verify 26 fake polls, as well as two exit polls also false.
In the second round of the local run-off elections, on November 2, hibrid.info encountered a suspicious content published from a Facebook page called "ABC News Kosova".
This page claimed that the results of a poll for the November 9th runoff will be published soon. According to this claim, it is stated that Institute for Social and Political Research is in the final phase of analyzing data from a comprehensive survey in all municipalities where the second round of local elections in Kosovo will take place, on November 9, 2025, and that the final results are expected to be published later. November 5th through the institute's official channels and media partners.
Hibrid.info has researched this page (ABC News Kosova), and it was confirmed that it lacks contact information, website or even address. So, it is not known who is behind it. (see here)
Hibrid.info has also researched the "institute" that the aforementioned site refers to as "Institute for Social and Political Research, and added the acronym "IHSP".
In Google searches, no institute with this name appears (here). Likewise, on social media such as Facebook or LinkedIn, there is no official channel or page with this name, as referred to by “ABC News Kosova”. (see here and here)
Hibrid.info has also requested information about this institute from "Electronic System of Non-Governmental Organizations", but the results show no one registered in Kosovo with this name. (see photo below)
However, the website "ABC News Kosova", on Wednesday (November 5), published some graphics with the claim that Institute for Social and Political Research has published the results of the survey conducted on the eve of the local election run-off, which will be held on November 9, 2025 in 16 municipalities of Kosovo.
In this post, it is also claimed that the municipalities included in this survey are: Pristina, Prizren, Peja, Junik, Dragash, Gjakova, Kaçanik, Fushë Kosova, South Mitrovica, Rahovec, Suhareka, Gjilan, Vitia, Vushtrri, Obiliq and Klina.
So, the aforementioned website falsely claimed that a poll was being conducted for the local run-off elections, also mentioning the name of an institute, which, after fact-checking by hibrid.info, does not exist as registered in Kosovo.
What are surveys?
A survey is preliminary research to identify a situation, opinions or attitudes about something specific. In this statistical method Results are drawn based on the study of a portion of the population, called a sample.
Based on the institute's article Pew Research (research institute for fact-based surveys and studies), it is clarified what information should be requested about how a survey was conducted.
Who conducted the survey and who sponsored it?
Who was interviewed?
How was the survey conducted?
How were people selected for the survey?
When was the survey conducted?
How many people were interviewed?
Was the survey weighted? If so, how?
Do the survey questions seem neutral and fair?