Section six: ELECTIONS TO THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNING BODIES

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

BALLOTS, SUMMARIZATION OF THE ELECTION RESULTS

Article 130: Ballots

1. Elections of the candidates nominated for the community heads and council members are held by separate ballots.

2. The ballot for the election of the community heads contains the family names and the first names of the candidates in the alphabetical order of the family name, party affiliation, and if necessary other passport data. The ballots for the election of the community heads and the council members are prepared by the order of the Regional Electoral Commission. The Regional Electoral Commission allocates the ballots to the Precinct Electoral Commissions on the day prior to the day of voting. Ballots shall be of the same colour.

3. The ballots for the election of the council members contain the family names and the first names of the candidates in the alphabetical order of the family name, party affiliation, and if necessary other passport data. Ballots shall be of the same colour and differ from the colour of the ballots for the election of the community heads.

4. Ballots are allocated in the amount of five per cent more than the number of voters on the precinct voter list.

Article 131: Procedure for Summarization of the Election Results

1. Based on the summarization protocols of the voting results received from Precinct Electoral Commissions, the Regional Electoral Commission, at its session, which can be attended by persons who have the right to be present, compiles summarization protocols on the election results in the community.

2. In case there is a written application of two members of the Precinct Electoral Commission the Regional Electoral Commission verifies and checks the conformity of the data of the precinct summarization protocol on the voting results at the relevant precinct, with the actual voting data. The authors of the special opinion and the Chairman of the relevant Precinct Electoral Commission can participate in the verifications.

3. In case of revealing discrepancies as a result of the verification the Regional Electoral Commission compiles verified summarization protocols on the voting results of the given precinct which are attached to the provisional protocols of the Precinct Electoral Commission. The members of the commission attending the session sign the verified protocols. The protocols are stamped by the Regional Electoral Commission. If a member of the Regional Electoral Commission has a special opinion on the data of the verified protocols, it is attached to the protocol. A note thereof is made in the protocol next to his/her signature. If a commission member refuses to sign the verified protocols, a note thereon is made in the protocol.

1. Summarization protocols of the election results of the candidates for the community head and council members are compiled separately.

2. The summarization protocol of the results of voting shall contain:

1). name of the community and the election day;

2). family names and first names of the Regional Electoral Commission members attending the session and of the absentees;

3). family names and first names of the proxies, observers and the representatives of mass media attending the meeting of the Regional Electoral Commission, and the names of their organizations;

4). the total number of citizens included on all the precinct voter lists of the community;

5). the total number of the registered citizens;

6). the total number of the votes cast for each candidate;

7). the amount of inaccuracies influencing the votes.

Each datum to be entered in the protocol is read out.

3. Summarization protocols of the voting results are compiled in the procedure and time frame established by Article 62.

4. The members of the Regional Electoral Commission sign the summarization protocol of the voting results. The protocol is stamped with the stamp of the commission. If the signature of a commission member is missing, a note thereof is done in the protocol.

Article 133: Summarization of the Election Results of the Candidate Nominated for the Community Head

1. Based on the data of the summarization protocols of voting results of the community head, the Regional Electoral Commission summarizes the election results and in accordance with the procedure and time frame established by Articles 62 of this code, adopts one of the following decisions:

1). on the election of the community head;

2). on recognizing the election of the community head as invalid;

3). on recognizing the election of the community head not held.

2. The candidate, who has received maximum “yes” votes, is considered as elected. In case one candidate is running for elections, he/she is considered as elected, if he/she has received more than half of the votes of the voters.

3. Elections of the candidate nominated for the community head are recognized as invalid, if the amount of the inaccuracies influencing the number of votes excludes the possibility of determining the elected candidate. In the event of recognizing the election of the community head as invalid, fourteen days after the election, in the procedure established by this Code and with the same composition of candidates repeated voting is held.

4. The elections of the candidate nominated for the community head is considered as not held, if:

1). the only candidate running has not received the required number of votes for being elected;

2). the elected candidate has died before the election results have been summarized;

3). as a result of the repeated voting, some bases for recognizing the elections of the community head as not held, have become available.

5. Within two hours after the decision on the election of the community head has been adopted, the Chairman of the Regional Electoral Commission forwards a notification to the Central Electoral Commission and the relevant governor.

6. The decision of the Regional Electoral Commission on the results of the elections of the candidate nominated for the community head can be appealed to court within three days after it has been adopted.

7. In the event if the court has ruled to recognize the election of the candidate nominated for the community head invalid, fourteen days after the decision has entered into legal force, repeated voting is held in the procedure established by this Code, with the same composition of candidates.

8. Repeated voting with the same composition of candidates can be held only once.

Article 134: Summarization of the Election Results of the Candidates Nominated for the Council Member

1. Based on the data of the summarization protocols of the election of the candidates nominated for the community council members, the Regional Electoral Commission sums up the election results, and within five days after the close of voting makes one of the following decisions:

1). on the election of the community council members;

2). on recognizing the election of the community council members as invalid;

3). on recognizing the election of the community council members as not held.

2. Election results of the candidates nominated for the community council members are summarized by multi-mandate majoritarian constituencies, as established in point three of Article 120 of this Code.

3. Elections of the candidates nominated for the community council members can be recognized as invalid or not held according to the multi-mandate majoritarian constituencies, as established in point three of Article 120.

4. The first five candidates for the community council members, who have received the maximum “yes” votes, are considered elected at the given multi-mandate majoritarian constituency.

5. The election of the community council members is recognized as invalid, if the amount of the inaccuracies influencing the number of votes excludes the possibility of determining the elected candidate. In case the election of the community council members has been recognized invalid, fourteen days after the election repeated voting is held in the procedure established by this Code and with the same composition of the candidates.

6. The election of the community council member is considered as not held, if as a result of the repeated voting, some bases are available for recognizing the election of the community council member as invalid. In case the election of candidates nominated for the community council members has been recognized as invalid by the decision of the court, fourteen days after the decision has entered into legal force, repeated voting is held in the procedure established by this Code and with the same composition of the candidates.

7. In the event of the equal number of votes received in the election by candidates nominated for community council member, the distribution of the mandates is done by drawing a lot in the procedure established by the Central Electoral Commission.

8. The Chairman of the Regional Electoral Commission within two hours after the decision on the election of the community council members has been adopted, forwards a report to the Central Electoral Commission and the relevant governor.

9. The decision of the Regional Electoral Commission on the election results of the candidates nominated for the community council members can be appealed to court with three days after it has been adopted.