§ Article 8Openness of Preparation and Holding of Elections

1. Public notice about a forthcoming meeting of the electoral committee shall be put on the notice board placed in the premises where the electoral committee has its office, and the members of this electoral committee shall be personally notified about the forthcoming meeting at least 24 hours before the start of the meeting.
2. Meetings and voting of electoral committees shall be open and may be observed by representatives and observers of political parties and political organisations (hereinafter referred to as “parties”) upon producing certificates of the established form, representatives of the mass media upon presenting their service cards.
3. Persons present in the conference hall of the electoral committee may, from their seats, record, write down in shorthand or take down everything that is said at the meeting, photograph, film or make video recordings. Taking photographs, filming, and video recording which requires walking about the hall or using special lighting equipment, as well as live radio or television broadcasting of meetings shall be subject to the permission of the electoral committee chairman.
4. Electoral committees may not hold closed meetings.
5. The Central Electoral Committee may prohibit anyone from entering the premises for the work of the service staff of the electoral committees, as well as the premises for storage of documents, if it is necessary to ensure undisturbed work of such employees, to protect the stored documents.
6. If there are reasons to believe that during a meeting a threat to the security of an electoral committee or its participants may arise, the chairman of the committee may request the police to check the documents and belongings of the persons entering the conference hall or carry out their personal search.
7. The electoral committee may remove from the conference hall persons who interfere with the work of the committee.