§ Art. II-120Procedure for Vote Counting at an Election Precinct

1. Vote counting at an election precinct shall be conducted openly and transparently, by
members of the precinct election commission at its meeting, which shall be held in premises where
the voting took place.
 At its final meeting, a precinct election commission shall, by its decision, assign the keeping of the
minutes, accordingly, to the deputy chair of the precinct election commission or to some other member
of the precinct election commission. At that meeting, the secretary of the precinct election commission
shall enter data in the protocols on vote counting at the election precinct
 When the election of the President of Ukraine occurs simultaneously with local elections, the
counting of votes cast in such elections shall take place after the vote counting protocols for the election
of the President of Ukraine have been drafted and signed pursuant to the established procedure at the
same meeting of the precinct election commission. While the final meeting of a precinct election
commission is underway, the packages with the protocols and other election documents relating to the
election of the President of Ukraine shall remain in the premises where the meeting is being held, within
plain view of the precinct election commission members and other persons present at the commission
meeting. Packages with the election documents shall be transported to the district election commission,
pursuant to the procedure established by Article 123 of this Code, immediately after the respective
protocols on all other elections have been signed.
 2. The meeting of a precinct election commission shall take place immediately after the end of
voting at the election precinct, shall continue without interruption and shall end when the vote counting
protocols of the election precinct have been drawn up and signed.
 3. If during the voting the precinct election commission received complaints about violations
that took place during the voting at the precinct, the precinct election commission shall consider
them at the beginning of its meeting, prior to the counting of votes at the precinct.
 4. The vote counting at an election precinct shall be performed by the precinct election
commission according to the sequence of provisions of this Article under the procedure specified
by Central Election Commission.
 5. Each member of the precinct election commission who is responsible for working with the voter list
shall count and enter the following information on each sheet of the voter list received (for each sheet separately):
 1) 1 the number of voters at the precinct included in the voter list;
 2) the number of voters who received ballots (signed by voters and marked "voted at the place
 of residence" in the voter list);
 6. A precinct election commission shall, on the basis of a voter list, establish the number of
voters at the election precinct that shall be announced and entered by the secretary of the election
commission in the protocol on vote counting at an election precinct.
 7. A precinct election commission shall count unused ballot papers. A number of such ballot
papers shall be announced and entered by the secretary of the commission in the protocol on the
vote counting at the election precinct. The unused ballot papers shall be invalidated by cutting off the
bottom right corner of the ballot papers. The invalidated unused ballot papers, together with the ballot
papers indicated in Part eight of Article 118 of this Code (spoiled ballot papers), shall be packed in
separate packages. The inscription “Unused ballot papers” shall be made on the packages, with

 

indication of the number of the territorial district, or indication that the election district is an out-of-
country election district, as well as the number of election precinct, number of packaged ballots,
date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members
present and affixed with the precinct election commission’s seal.
 8. A precinct election commission shall count the number of voters who received ballot papers,
based on the voters’ signatures in the voter list and marks “voted at the place of stay” in the voter list.
That number shall be announced.
 9. A precinct election commission shall sum up the number of the counterfoils of the ballot
papers with signatures of voters and election commission members who issued them. The number
of such counterfoils shall be announced.
 10. If there is no mismatch between the number of counterfoils specified in Part nine of this
Article, and the number indicated in Part eight of this Article, the secretary of the election
commission shall announce this number and enter this number in the protocol on vote counting at
the election precinct as the number of voters who received ballot papers at the election precinct.
 11. If there is a discrepancy between the number of counterfoils specified in Part nine of this
Article, and the number of signatures of voters who received ballot papers, the precinct election
commission shall write an act thereon, stating the reason for such discrepancy established by the
commission’s decision, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present.
The aforementioned act may be signed by the candidates present, their agents, and official observers.
The signatures shall be affixed with the election commission’s seal. After that, the election commission
shall take a decision establishing the number of voters who received the ballot papers. That number shall
be announced and entered in the vote counting protocols of the election precinct.
 12. The voter list, along with the excerpt from the voter list created pursuant to Part three of Article
119 of this Code; the applications of voters based on which the excerpt was compiled; court decisions
on making changes to the voter list; notifications from the State Voter Register maintenance body shall
be packed in one package. The inscription “Voter List” shall be made on the package, with indication
of the number of the territorial district, or indication that the election district is an out-of-country
election district, as well as the number of election precinct, date and time of packaging; the package
shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the precinct
election commission’s seal.
 13. The counterfoils of the issued ballot papers shall be packed. The inscription “Counterfoils
of ballot papers” shall be made on the packages, with indication of the number of the territorial district
or indication that the election district is an out-of-country election district, as well as the number of the
election precinct, the number of packed counterfoils, the date and time of packaging; the package shall
be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.
 14. The precinct election commission shall check if the number of unused ballots and the number
of voters that received ballot papers are equal to the number of ballot papers received by the precinct
election commission. In the event of a discrepancy of those numbers, the precinct election commission
shall draw up an act thereon, stating the reason for such discrepancy established by the commission’s
decision, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present. The
aforementioned act may be signed by the candidates, candidates’ agents, or official observers
present. The signatures shall be affixed with the commission’s seal.
 15. The precinct election commission shall check the integrity of the sealing tape or seal on each
ballot box.
 16. If the precinct election commission discovers damage to the tape or seal, or any other damage
that indicates that the integrity of ballot box has been violated, the precinct election commission shall
write an act thereon, stating the nature of the discovered damage, which shall be signed by the precinct
election commission members present. The aforementioned act may be signed by the candidates,
candidates’ agents, or official observers present. The signatures shall be affixed with the
commission’s seal.

 

 17. The precinct election commission shall open the ballot boxes one by one. The first ballot boxes
to be opened shall be the mobile ones that were used for voting at voters’ place of stay; and the last
ballot boxes to be opened shall be the ones with damaged seals or sealing tape or with other damage
revealed during the voting (if there are any such boxes).
 18. When an undamaged ballot box is opened, its content shall be emptied on the table at which the
precinct election commission members are sitting. The presence of a control sheet in the ballot box (or,
in case of a mobile ballot box – the control sheets) shall also be checked.
 19. The ballot papers from a damaged ballot box shall be taken out one by one without mixing
them. The precinct election commission shall count the numbers of ballot papers contained in such
ballot box, and check the presence of a control sheet, which shall be taken out of the ballot box last.
 20. If there is no control sheet in the ballot box, the precinct election commission shall draw up an
act on the absence of the control sheet in the ballot box in accordance with the procedure specified
by this Article, in which the number of ballot papers contained in the ballot box shall be indicated. The
aforementioned ballot papers shall not be subject to counting during the establishment of the total
number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote counting.
 21. If there are more ballot papers in the mobile ballot box than the number of voters included
in the excerpt from the voter list in the election precinct, the district election commission shall
draw up an act in accordance with the procedure specified by this Article on such a discrepancy,
in which the number of ballot papers contained in this ballot box shall be indicated. The aforementioned
ballot papers shall not be subject to counting during the establishment of the total number of voters who
took part in the voting and in the vote counting.
 22. If the members of the commission have doubts as to the authenticity of a control sheet, or in
other doubtful situations, the precinct election commission shall adopt, by voting, a decision
recognizing the ballot papers contained in the ballot box as ones that shall not be subject to counting
during the establishment of the total number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote
counting.
 23. If the numbers of the territorial district or the election precinct indicated on the ballot paper
do not correspond to the numbers of the territorial district or the election precinct, at which the
vote counting is being performed, the ballot paper shall not be subject to counting during the
establishment of the total number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote counting.
 24. The ballot papers that are not to be counted when establishing the total number of voters who
took part in the voting and when counting votes, shall be packed in a separate package. The inscriptions
“Ballot papers not subject to counting” shall be made on the package, with indication of the number of
the territorial district or indication that the election district is an out-of-country election district, as well
as the number of the election precinct, the number of packed ballot papers, the date and time of
packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and
affixed with the commission’s seal.
 25. The election commission shall count the total number of the ballot papers, except for ballot
papers not subject to counting. When counting ballot papers, a member of the precinct election
commission, appointed by a decision of the commission, shall count the ballot papers aloud. All items
found in the ballot boxes other than the ballot papers of the approved form shall be placed separat