§ Art. I-36Organization of the Work of Election Commissions

1. Central Election Commission conducts its work according to the Law of Ukraine “On the
Central Election Commission” and the Rule of Procedure of the Central Election Commission.
 The organization of work of lower-level election commissions shall be determined by the Central
Election Commission in accordance with this code.

 

 The main form of work of an election commission shall be its meeting, which shall be convened by
the chair of the commission or, in case of his or her absence, by the deputy chair, or, in case of absence
of the chair and deputy chair, by the secretary of the commission. Should a written request be submitted
on behalf of one third of the members of an election commission, the chair of the commission or his or
her deputy shall be obliged to convene a meeting of the commission no later than the next day following
the day of receipt of such a request.
 The conduct of voting of voters shall not be deemed a meeting of a precinct election commission.
 2. If necessary, a meeting of an election commission may be convened by a decision of the
higher-level election commission.
 3. The first meeting of an election commission shall be convened no later than on the second
day following the day of its establishment, with subsequent meetings being convened as needed.
 4. A meeting of an election commission has quorum if more than half of the commission
members are present.
 5. A meeting of an election commission shall be convened with mandatory notification of all
members of a commission of the time, place where the meeting will be held, and its agenda.
 A meeting may be notified by telephone, e-mail or other means of telecommunication. The person
shall be deemed to have been notified, in particular, if the information was sent to his or her contact
telephone number indicated in the submission to the respective election commission.
 6. Members of an election commission shall be provided with draft decisions of the
commission and the necessary documents, as a rule, no later than on the day preceding the day of
the commission’s meeting, but in any case, no later than before the beginning of the meeting.
 7. A meeting of an election commission shall be chaired by the chair of the commission or
his or her deputy. Should they fail to perform this function, the commission shall elect a
chairperson of the meeting from among its members.
 8. At meetings of an election commission, in particular during vote counting and tabulation
of the voting results on the day of voting or on the day of repeat voting at the voting premises, only
the following persons shall be entitled to be present without any permission or invitation of the
respective commission: members of the Central Election Commission, staff members of the
Secretariat of the Central Election Commission and the Service of the State Voter Register
Administrator; employees of the respective territorial and regional representative office of the
Central Election Commission; members of higher-level election commissions; candidates in the
respective election and their agents; authorized persons of parties (party organizations) that are
electoral subjects in the respective election process; official observers from candidates and parties
(party organizations) (no more than one person from each candidate and each party (party
organization)), official observers from nongovernmental organizations that have been granted
permission to have official observers during the respective election (no more than two persons
from one nongovernmental organization), as well as official observers from foreign states and
international organizations, mass media representatives (no more than two persons from each mass
media outlet).
 Should several elections be held simultaneously, the following persons shall be entitled to be present
at the meetings of a precinct election commission, including the meetings dedicated to the vote counting
and establishing the results of an election, on the day of voting in the premises for voting without the
need to obtain a consent or an invitation of the respective commission: candidates, parties (party
organizations) that are electoral subjects in the respective elections conducted at the same time; their
agents, authorized persons of parties (party organizations), and official observers.
 The applicant, subject of the complaint, subject of an appeal, interested persons indicated in the
complaint, or their representatives have the right to be present at the meeting, where the application or
complaint is being considered.

 

 The persons accompanying the persons referred to in this Part who need such accompanying for
health reasons (due to disability, temporary health disorder, age) shall be also entitled to be present at
the meetings of election commissions.
 9. Persons other than those listed in Part eight of this Article may be present at a meeting of
an election commission only on permission or invitation of the commission, which shall be
approved by a decision made at the meeting of the election commission.
 10. An election commission may adopt a motivated decision to deprive a candidate in the
respective election, his or her authorized person, an authorized representative of a party (party
organization), an official observer, a mass media representative or a person specified in Part nine
of this Article of the right to be present at the commission meeting, if he or she unlawfully obstructs
the conduct of the meeting. Such a decision shall be adopted by no less than two-thirds of the
commission members.
 Law enforcement officers shall ensure the protection of law and order on the day of voting and
during the vote counting only outside the voting premises. Should any violations of law and order occur
inside the voting premises, the chair, deputy chair or the secretary of a commission may invite law
enforcement officers to take such measures as are necessary, and only for as long as necessary, to restore
law and order.
 Persons who provide cyber protection and ensure cyber-security of the automated informational-
analytical system or its communication channels, necessary for the functioning of an election
commission, and which are designated by a decision of the Central Election Commission or the
respective election commission, and are employed by the bodies specified in the list provided in the
respective decision of the Central Election Commission, may be present in premises of an election
commission, in which units of the automated information-analytical system are installed.
 11. Upon request of three members of a commission, as well as by decision of a higher-level
election commission, an election commission shall consider at its meeting matters within the scope
of its competence, no later than within three days of the submission of the request or the adoption
of the decision, but in any case, no later than on the day of voting; and on the day of voting (except
for a precinct election commission), without delay. A precinct election commission shall consider
at its meeting matters submitted on the day of voting, or on the day of repeat voting, immediately
after the close of voting.
 12. Any decision of an election commission following its consideration and discussion at the
meeting of an election commission shall be adopted in an open vote by a majority of the
commission members, except for cases provided by this Code.
 A decision of a commission comes into force from the moment it is adopted.
 At a meeting of a district, territorial or precinct election commission taking place on election day,
in particular, when counting the votes at the precinct, establishing the voting results within the election
district, when less than two thirds of the commission members are present, the commission decision
shall be adopted with no less than two thirds of the votes from the number of commission members
present at the meeting.
 13. Any member of an election commission present at a meeting who disagrees with the
commission’s decision shall have the right to file a written dissenting opinion on the decision
within two days of the meeting at which the decision was adopted; the opinion shall be attached to
the minutes of the respective meeting of the election commission.
 14. A decision of an election commission made within the scope of its competence shall be
binding.
 15. Any decision of an election commission which fails to comply with the legislation of
Ukraine or has been adopted beyond the scope of its powers can be canceled by the higher-level
election commission or by a court. In such case, the higher-level commission shall have the right
to make a decision on the merits of the issue.

 

 16. Applications, complaints and other documents filed with an election commission shall be
accepted by members of the respective election commission, authorized by its decision. All
applications, complaints and other documents shall be accepted and registered in accordance with
the procedure approved by the Central Election Commission.
 An application submitted to an election commission shall be considered within five days of the day
of its receipt, unless otherwise provided for by this Code.
 17. The procedure for production of and requirements to protocols of precinct election
commissions on the vote counting shall be determined by the Central Election Commission.
 18. In national elections, prior to the transportation of precinct election commission protocols
and district election commission protocols to the district election commission or the Central
Election Commission, respectively, they shall be packaged in packages with special security
features, produced and numbered by the manufacturing enterprise upon the order of the Central
Election Commission for each district and precinct election commission, so that it would be
impossible to remove any other document from the package or insert any other document into the
package without damaging the seal and the package itself.
 19. In case of termination, including early termination of powers of the election commission
composition, the election commission, whose powers have been terminated, is obliged to hand
over electoral and other documents, material asserts, including seals and "Withdrawn"-stamps, to
the election commission which formed (approved) in its new composition.
 The chair of the election commission in question, or, in case of his or her absence, the deputy chair,
or in case of absence of the chair and deputy chair, the secretary of the commission, whose powers have
been terminated, shall be responsible for the aforementioned handover.