§ Art. III-179Procedure for Receipt and Consideration of Documents of Precinct Election

Commissions by District Election Commission

 

 1. Immediately after the end of voting, a district election commission shall convene a meeting that
shall continue without a break until the results of the voting in the territorial election district are
established. During this period of time, the members of the district election commission shall not be
engaged in any activities other than participation in the election commission’s meeting.
 2. From the moment when the voting ended, and till the beginning of receipt by the district
election commission of protocols on vote counting at election precincts, the district election
commission shall send the current information on vote counting at election precincts of the
territorial district (hereinafter referred to as the information on vote counting) to the Central
Election Commission via an automated information analysis system.
 3. The meeting of the district election commission specified in Part one of this Article shall be
officially recorded in the minutes of continuous meeting that shall be signed by the chair or the
meeting chairperson, as well as the secretary of the election commission or the member of the
election commission that performed the duties of the secretary at the said meeting. The protocol
shall be appended with written dissenting opinions (if available) of members of the election
commission who took part in the meeting and who disagree with the decision adopted by the
district election commission.
 4. At the meeting of the district election commission specified in Part one of this Article, the chair
of the district election commission shall receive the sealed packages with the protocols of the precinct
election commissions on vote counting; unpack them and announce the content of the protocols of the
precinct election commissions on vote counting at the respective election precincts; and also receive
the sealed packages with the other election documents specified by Part ten of Article 176 of this Code.
The time of the receipt by the district election commission of the protocols of the precinct election
commission on vote counting, the list of the received election documents, and the data entered into the
protocol on vote counting at the election precinct shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the
district election commission.
 5. Immediately after the announcement by the chair of the district election commission (or
the commission meeting chairperson) of the contents of the protocol at the meeting of the district
election commission, the commission member authorized by the commission decision shall
announce the data of the protocol and respective acts (if any) for the system administrator who
shall enter those data in the data base of the automated information analysis system to verify by
means of this system the correctness of the data contained in the protocol.
 If the protocol is filled out correctly, the system administrator shall:
 1) print out the information on vote counting relating to the respective election precinct,
 sign it and hand it over for signing by the chair, deputy chair and secretary of the district
 election commission (or the commission meeting chairperson), as well as the election
 commission members. The information on vote counting shall be immediately provided
 to the members of the respective precinct election commission, MP candidates, party’s
 authorized persons, and official observers. The aforementioned information shall be
 stored in the district election commission until the termination of its powers and shall be
 transferred thereby to the local archival institution together with other election documents;
 2) using the automated information analysis system, transfer the information on vote
 counting to the Central Election Commission.
 The Central Election Commission shall immediately publish the aforementioned information on its
official website.
 6. When receiving the precinct election commission documents, the district election commission
shall examine the completeness of the documents and the integrity of all packages containing election
documents. During this checking, each member of the commission shall have the right to examine each
package containing election documents.
 7. Based on the results of consideration of the precinct election commission documents and
complaints concerning violations of the requirements of this Code during the conduct of voting and

 

vote counting at the election precinct, as well as during the transportation of the election documents to
the district election commission that had been received by the district election commission prior to the
time period of the receipt of the precinct election commission documents, the district election
commission shall adopt one of the following decisions:
 1) to include the data contained in the protocols on vote counting at the election precinct, when
 establishing the results of voting in the territorial district;
 2) to oblige the precinct election commission to correct the revealed defects by drawing up a
 protocol marked “Corrected”;
 3) to conduct a re-count of votes at the election precinct in accordance with procedures
 provided for by this Code.
 8. A decision provided for by Part seven of this Article shall be adopted by voting of all
members of the district election commission, by an absolute majority of the votes of all members of the
commission, and shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting of the district election commission.
 9. If any corrections, mistakes, or inaccuracies are discovered in the protocols of the precinct
election commission on vote counting at the election precinct, which can be eliminated without re-
counting the votes, the district election commission shall adopt a decision specified in clause two of
Part seven of this Article (if the content of such corrections, mistakes and inaccuracies cannot be
ascertained without drawing up a protocol marked "Corrected"), or shall consider an issue about making
changes to the aforementioned data with the purpose to eliminate the detected drawbacks without
the re-count of votes.
 As a result of such consideration, the district election commission shall make a decision documented
in the minutes of the commission meeting, requiring the precinct election commission to introduce
changes to the protocol on vote counting at the election precinct, to accept the said protocol with
changes made and to include the data contained in the said protocol with changes made, when
establishing the results of voting in the territorial district.
 Such a decision documented in the minutes of the commission shall be appended to the minutes of
the meeting of the precinct election commission.
 10. A precinct election commission shall be obliged, within the time limit established by the
district election commission, to consider an issue about introducing changes to the protocol on vote
counting without the re-count of ballot papers. The protocol with the mark “Corrected” shall be
drawn up pursuant to this Code in the manner in which the protocol of the precinct election
commission on the counting of votes at the precinct, which needs to be updated, was drawn up, be
transported and handed over to the district election commission in the manner prescribed by Article
178 of this Code. The time of the receipt by the district election commission of the protocol of the
precinct election commission with the mark “Corrected” and data entered therein shall be recorded in
the minutes of the meeting of the district election commission.
 11. If there are applications or complaints, supported by acts duly drawn up by MP candidates,
party’s authorized persons, official observers, or voters relating to violations of the requirements
of this Code during the conduct of the voting and/or vote counting at the election precinct that raise
doubts about the vote counting results at such election precinct, the district election commission
may adopt a decision on re-counting of votes at the election precinct.
 12. If there is an act or an application in writing submitted by persons specified in Part one of
Article 178 of this Code, on violation of the requirements of this Code during the transportation of the
protocol on vote counting at the election precinct, as well as other documents, to the district
election commission, the district election commission may, or shall be obliged, in case if there are
clear signs that the packages with the election documents have been interfered with, to adopt a
decision ordering a re-count of votes at such election precinct.

 

 A decision of a district election commission ordering to conduct a re-count of votes in case if the
violation of integrity of the packages with packed documents is revealed, following the acceptance of
election documents from the precinct election commission, shall not be allowed
 13. The protocols of a precinct election commission on vote counting at the election precinct as
well as sealed packages with other election documents of the precinct election commissions shall be
stored at the premises where the meeting of the district election commission is being held until the votes
at the election precinct have been re-counted by the district election commission.
 14. The votes of the voters at the election precinct shall be re-counted by the district election
commission after consideration and receipt of protocols and other documents from all precinct election
commissions. All members of the precinct election commission shall have the right to be present during
re-counting of votes at the election precinct by the district election commission; moreover, MP
candidates, their agents, party’s authorized persons, and official observers may be also present there.
 15. Based on the results of the re-count of votes at the election precinct, a district election
commission shall draw up a protocol on re-count of votes at the respective election precinct in a
form established by the Central Election Commission.
 After the district election commission has drawn up a protocol on re-counting of votes at the election
precinct, the information contained in the respective protocol shall be transferred to the Central Election
Commission in accordance with the same procedure as the information on the vote counting.
 16. The protocol on the re-counting of votes at the respective election precinct shall be drawn up
by the district election commission in four copies. The copies of the protocols shall be numbered and
shall have equal legal force. All copies of the protocols shall be signed by the chair, deputy chair,
secretary and other members of the district election commission present at the commission meeting and
by the precinct election commission members who took part in the re-counting of votes at the respective
election precinct. All copies of the protocols shall be affixed with the seal of the district election
commission. The data contained in the protocol shall be announced. MP candidates, their agents,
party’s authorized persons, official observers who were present during the re-counting of votes,
shall have the right to sign the first copy of the protocol. If a member of the commission disagrees
with the information entered in a protocol, that member shall be obliged to set out in writing his or
her dissenting opinion, which shall be attached to the protocol.
 Failure or refusal of some members of the election commission to sign a vote counting protocol at
the election precinct shall entail no legal consequences for the validity of the protocol.
 17. A district election commission may adopt a decision declaring the voting at the election
precinct invalid, only if circumstances specified in Part one of Article 177 of this Code are
discovered during the re-counting of votes at the respective election precinct.
 18. Should a decision be made during the re-counting of votes on declaring the voting at the
electio