§ Article 65Voting by Post

1. Citizens who due to their health condition or other reasons are not able to come to the polling station on the polling day shall be provided with an opportunity to participate in elections by voting by post. Voting by post shall be possible at post offices during their business hours beginning 5 days before the election and ending 1 day prior to the elections, provided the voter is put on the electoral roll of that municipality, and ending 2 days prior to the election, provided the voter is not put on the electoral roll of that municipality. Expenses related to voting by post shall be covered by the Central Electoral Committee from the funds of the State Budget.
2. The head of the post office shall be responsible for the organisation of voting by post. He shall be responsible for keeping of records, issue and collection of ballot papers and envelopes for voting by during the voting by post. The chairman of the electoral committee of the polling district within the territory of which a post office is situated, shall be responsible for the organisation of the supervision of the work of the post office during voting by post. When necessary, he must, in conjunction with the chairmen of other polling district committees, whom the municipal electoral committee has assigned with such task, arrange for the organisation of polling district electoral committee members’ watching-over in post offices.
3. The head of the post office, with the consent of the municipal electoral committee, shall appoint postal workers for the issue and collection of ballot papers and envelopes for voting by post during the voting by post, who are entrusted with the issue of ballot papers and envelopes for voting by post. If the municipal electoral committee requests so, the head of the post office must remove a postal worker from the work with election documents. Postal workers who are authorised to issue election papers shall be issued by the municipal electoral committee the certificates of the established form. An electoral committee member, election observer, having produced his certificate to the postal worker, a voter, having produced the voter certificate and the document proving his identity, shall have the right to write his remark in this certificate, and the head of the post office shall immediately notify the municipal electoral committee about this remark. The postal worker who does not have this certificate shall not have the right to issue election papers.
4. Post offices must provide a room (place) where the voter can, without interference and in secrecy, mark the ballot papers and place them into an envelope for voting by post. The election observers who have certificates permitting to observe voting in any polling district may observe voting.
5. The postal worker shall issue election documents to a voter in accordance with the procedure established by the Central Electoral Committee. Together with ballot papers, voters shall be given envelopes for voting by post. A covering envelope for voting by post shall be addressed by the postal worker to the polling district committee which is indicated in the voter certificate of the person.
6. Voting in secrecy, the voter shall:
1) mark the ballot papers;
2) place the marked ballot papers into the ballot paper envelope;
3) seal the ballot paper envelope;
4) place the ballot paper envelope into the covering envelope together with the voter certificate;
5) seal the covering envelope.
7. Voters who are not able due to the state of health to come to vote at a post office or a polling station on a polling day, may vote by post at home. The following may be entered on the list of voters voting at home: invalids of Group I, invalids of Group II with motor disabilities and persons with temporary working incapacity, as well as persons who have attained the age of 70 years; such persons must submit a request to ensure an opportunity to vote at home, indicating that they are not able to come to a post office or a polling station on a polling day. Electoral committees shall have the right to obtain data about invalids of Group I, invalids of Group II with motor disabilities from the Board of the State Social Insurance Fund or its territorial branches, and the data about the persons with temporary working incapacity – from health care institutions. Electoral committees may not disseminate such data and may use the data only for drawing up lists of voters voting at home. Persons responsible for dissemination of the data shall be held liable under law. Electoral committees of polling districts shall, not later than 2 days before the commencement of voting by post, draw up a list of voters voting at home in accordance to applications to ensure an opportunity to vote at home, filled out by voters. The Central Electoral Committee shall establish the form of an application. With the consent of the chairman of a municipal electoral committee or a member of the municipal electoral committee authorised by the chairman, the electoral committees of the polling districts may supplement a list of voters voting at home, if they receive applications of the voters entitled to vote at home, to ensure an opportunity to vote at home not later than 3 days before elections. Voters’ applications to ensure an opportunity to vote at home must be confirmed by heads of municipal social care and guardianship or health care institutions, or the authorised officers of the said institutions. Applications to ensure an opportunity to vote at home shall be appended to a list of voters voting at home, drawn up by an electoral committee of a polling district. Officers who have made unjustified approval of or unjustified refusal to approve voters’ applications to ensure an opportunity to vote at home, shall be held liable under law.
8. The covering envelopes, ballot paper envelopes, and ballot papers shall be delivered at least 2 days prior to the election by a postman to the homes of voters. A concrete schedule of postmen’s arrival to the homes of voters must be approved by the head of a post office not later than 12 noon, its copy shall be put on an announcement board and may be implemented only on the day following the approval. If electoral committee members wish to come to the voter’s home together with a postman, there must be not less than 2 of them; election observers may also arrive at the voter’s home. Postal workers, electoral committee members or other persons may not deliver covering envelopes, ballot paper envelopes and ballot envelopes to the homes of the voters who are not entered on the list of voters voting at home.
9. The sealed covering envelope (with the voter certificate, ballot paper envelope and ballot papers placed in it) the voter may:
1) hand to a postal worker;
2) hand to the postman who has delivered the election documents to him; or
3) put into a post-box.
10. When a voter votes at home, it shall be prohibited to exert influence on his determination and to urge him to vote. The voter shall himself mark, in secret, the ballot paper, place the ballot paper in the ballot paper envelope, seal such envelope, place the ballot paper envelope and the voter certificate in the covering envelope and seal such envelope. On the request of the voter who, by reason of his physical disability, is unable to do this himself, the person chosen by him (except the postman, electoral committee member or observer) shall assist him in doing so. The said person must keep the voting secret. The voter may hand the sealed covering envelope to the postman or to send it on the same day or another day.
11. It shall be prohibited to accept from the voter a covering envelope which is not sealed.