IFES Annotated Unofficial Translation,
Official Gazette of the
Date Published: 25 -June -2002
LAW ON VOTERS' LIST
I. BASIC
PROVISIONS
This Law stipulates
the manner and procedure for recording the electoral right and maintaining the
Voters' List.
(1) The
citizens of the
(2) The Voters'
List shall be maintained according to the Register of Citizens in the form of a
Register of Voters, with automatic data processing on magnetic medium.
(1) The Voters'
List shall be considered a public document.
(2) All
activities and documents of the state bodies, all submissions and evidence
related to registering citizens in the Voters ' List shall be exempted from
payment of fees and taxes.
(1) The Voters'
List shall be kept for the whole territory of the
(2) The
personal data of the citizens in the Voters ' List shall be written in the
languages and alphabets in which the original records are kept, in accordance
with Law.
(3) It is
obligatory for the Voters' List to be updated.
The Elections
for Members of the Parliament of the
(I) All
citizens who have turned 18 years of age, have residence on the territory of
the Republic of Macedonia and who have a valid personal ID card or passport
shall be registered in the Voters' List.
(2) All
citizens of the
(3) Citizens
who have been deprived of their working capacity15 by a
fmal16 court decision shall not be registered in the Voters ' List.
II. VOTERS'
LIST
1.
Maintaining the Voters' List
The Voters '
List shall be maintained by the Ministry of Justice.
(I) In the
Voters' List, the citizens shall be recorded according to the municipality
where they reside.
(2) Excerpts of
the Voters' List shall be prepared for each election district, municipality and
polling unit.
In order to
conduct voting in military camps, organizations, institutions, units and
penitentiary institutions, special excerpts of the Voters ' List shall be
prepared as follows:
-for voting of citizens
who are on military drill or serving military duty at the time of the
elections; and
-for voting of citizens who are in custody or are serving time in prison
at the time of elections.
---------------------
15 Translators'
note: The "working capacity" is defined in the Law on Non-contentious
Procedure, Article 34.
16 Translators'
note: "Final" means that no further legal remedies are available to
challenge such a decision. --------------------
(I) It is the
official duty of the Ministry of Justice to register, add and delete data in
the Voters ' List, based on data from registers, records of residence and
citizenship of the Republic of Macedonia, other official records, and through
direct inspection.
(2) The
Ministry of Justice shall register, add or delete data in the Voters' List at
the request of citizens, based on a personal ID card and passport.
(I) The
Ministry of Internal Affairs shall submit data to the Ministry of Justice for
citizens who:
-have turned 18
years of age and have a valid personal ID card or passport; -have turned 18
years of age and have died;
-have turned 18
years of age and have moved to or out of a given
municipality,
or have changed their address within the municipality; -have turned 18 years of
age and have changed their first or last name; -have turned 18 years of age and
have acquired or lost citizenship of the Republic of Macedonia;
-have turned 18
years of age and are temporarily working or residing abroad, or have
permanently moved out of the Republic of Macedonia, with data on the country
where they reside.
(2) The Primary
Courts shall submit data to the Ministry of Justice on persons who have been
deprived of their working capacity with a final court decision.
(3) The data,
referred to in paragraphs (I) and (2) of this Article, shall be delivered twice
a year, from February 1st to 10th and July 1st to 10th. In cases when elections
or a referendum are announced, the data shall be delivered the day following
the announcement day of the elections or referendum.
(1) No later
than 30 days before the Election Day or referendum at the state level, the
Ministry of Defence shall submit data to the Ministry of Justice on persons who
are serving military duty or are on military drill, based on the records kept
by this body.
(2) No later
than 30 days before the Election Day or referendum at the state level, the
Office in charge of executing sanctions shall submit data to the Ministry of
Justice on persons who are in custody or sentenced to jail, based on the record
kept by this body.
The data
referred to in Articles 11 and 12 of this Law shall be submitted on a magnetic
medium and shall obligatorily contain the unique registration number of the
citizen (EMBG).
Article 14 (1) The Voters' List
shall contain the following data: the unique registration number of the citizen
(EMBG), surname, name of one of the parents and personal name, sex, residential
address (municipality, settlement, street, house number, entrance and apartment),
date of entering and deleting, and date and type of added data.
(2) Printed
excerpts of the Voters' List, referred to in Article 8, paragraph 2 of this
Law, and the special excerpts of the Voters ' List, referred to in Article 9 of
this Law, shall be kept in alphabetical order according to the last name of the
citizen and shall contain the following columns of data: ordinal number,
surname and name, sex, date of birth, address (settlement, street, house
number, entrance and apartment), signature or fingerprint of the voter and
notes.
The special
excerpts from the Voters ' List, referred to in Article 9 of this Law, shall be
prepared in two copies, as follows:
1. For citizens
who are on military drill or serving military duty during the elections, one
copy is systematized according to the polling unit or municipality and under
notes, the number of the military camp, organization, institution, unit and the
municipality in which that military camp, organization, institution and unit is
located. The second copy is systematized according to the number of the
military camp, organization, institution, unit and the municipality in which
that military camp, organization, institution and unit is located and under
notes, the number of the polling unit and the municipality to which that
polling unit belongs;
2. For citizens
that are under custody or sentenced to jail during the elections, one copy is
systematized according to polling unit or municipality, and under notes, the
municipality in which the penitentiary institution is located. The second copy
is systematized according to the penitentiary institution and the municipality
in which it is located, and under notes, the number of the polling unit, and
the municipality to which that polling unit belongs.
(I) A citizen may, throughout the year, request to inspect the
excerpts of the Voters ' List in the offices of the District Ministries of
Justice.
(2) If during the
inspection, the citizen sees that either he or another citizen has not been
registered in the Voters ' List, or determines that data should be entered,
added or deleted, he shall have the right to submit a request to enter, add or
delete data to the District Ministry of Justice. Adequate documentation shall
be submitted along with the request.
(3) The
Ministry of Justice shall check the accuracy of the data and documents enclosed
by the citizen, no later than three days from the day of receiving the request.
If it is determined that the request is well founded, they shall enter, add or
delete data in the Voters' List or, on the contrary, they shall bring a
decision to reject the request.
(4) The citizen
has the right to file a complaint against the decision referred to in paragraph
(3) of this Article within 3 days following the day of receipt of the decision
to the State Election Commission.
(5) The State
Election Commission shall decide upon the complaint, referred to in paragraph
(4) of this Article, within 3 days following the day of receipt of the
complaint.
(6) Within 3
days following the day of receipt of the decision, the citizen may file an
appeal against the decision of the State Election Commission to initiate an
administrative dispute before the Supreme Court of the
(7) The Supreme
Court of the
(8) The final
decision reached on the appeal by the Supreme Court of the
2. State
Election Commission
The State
Election Commission shall do the following:
-confirm the
Voters' List and its excerpts referred to in Article 8, paragraph (2) of this
Law, 20 days prior to Election Day;
-decide upon
requests for entering, adding or deleting data in the Voters, List;
-see to the
protection of the personal data of the citizens contained in the Voters' List;
-check the
integrity of the database of the Voters' List;
- establish
contacts about matters concerning the Voters' List, with the international
associations and organizations, which are authorized to monitor the elections,
or referendum at the state level;
-submit
information to the media regarding the number of voters registered in the
confirmed Voters ' List and its excerpts;
-submit reports
on its work regarding the Voters' List to the Parliament of the
-perform other
duties determined by this Law.
3.
Preparation of the Voters' List for Voting
(I) In the months of February and July, the Ministry of Justice
shall prepare an analysis of the condition of the Voters' List.
(2) The
Ministry of Justice shall prepare the Voters' List for inspection no later than
10 days after the announcement of the elections and shall submit a report on
the condition of the Voters ' List to the State Election Commission.
(I) The
Ministry of Justice shall, no later than 15 days after the announcement of the
elections, place the Voters ' List on public inspection in its District
Ministries and local offices under its authority, as well as in the settlements
outside the local offices that they cover, provided there are conditions for
that, with the following data:
-citizens who
have turned 18 years of age, on the Election Day (first round of voting);
-deceased
persons, 30 days before the day of announcing the elections, and
-other information from the Voters ' List, on the day of announcing the
elections.
(2) Immediately
after placing the excerpts from the Voters' List on public inspection, the
Ministry of Justice shall inform the citizens through the media of the place and
the duration of the inspection, and the possibility for entering, adding or
deleting data in the Voters ' List.
(3) The
inspection shall last 15 days.
(1) A request
for entering, adding or deleting data in the Voters' List excerpts that are
open for inspection, within the deadline referred to in paragraph 3 of Article
19 of this Law, may be submitted by each citizen if:
-he or some
other citizen is not recorded in the Voters' List;
-a person, who
does not have the right to vote, does not have residence within the territory
of the municipality, or has died, is recorded there;
-his personal
name and address, or the personal name and address of another person, are not
entered correctly.
(2) The request
for entering, adding or deleting data referred to in paragraph ( 1) of this Article shall be submitted in writing to the
District Ministry of Justice or to the local office where the person resides.
(3) The
necessary proofs shall be attached to the request.
(1) The
Ministry of Justice shall decide upon the requests of the citizens, referred to
in Article 20 of this Law, within 24 hours of the day of receiving the request
and if it determines that the request is well founded, it will enter, add or
delete data, and if not, it will reject the request with a decision.
(2) The citizen
may file a complaint against the decision referred to in paragraph (1) of this
Article to the State Election Commission within 24 hours from receiving the
decision.
(3) The State
Election Commission shall reach a decision on the complaint referred to in
paragraph (2) of this Article within 24 hours after receiving the complaint.
(4) An appeal
may be filed to the Supreme Court of the
(5) Upon the
appeal referred to in paragraph (4) of this Article, the Supreme Court shall
decide within 24 hours of receiving the appeal.
(6) The final
decision of the Supreme Court of the
The Ministry of
Justice shall conclude the Voters ' List, with all the changes resulting from
the inspection, printed as excerpts, no later than 15 days after the ending of
the public inspection.
(I) The Voters'
List and its excerpts shall be concluded by noting the following: number of
pages of the List or excerpt, number of recorded voters (marked with number and
letters), the critical momentl7 for the data determined in Article 19,
paragraph (1) of this Law, concluding date, signature of the authorized person
and stamp.
(2) The concluded
Voters' List shall contain the data of citizens whose requests for deletion,
addition or change of data in the Voters ' List have been positively resolved
by the Ministry of Justice, the State Election Commission and the Supreme Court
of the Republic of Macedonia.
(3) The
Ministry of Justice shall submit the concluded Voters' List to the State
Election Commission for confirmation.
(4) The
Ministry of Justice, together with the concluded Voters' List, shall submit a
report on the data deleted, entered and changed during the public inspection.
(1) The
concluded Voters' List shall be confirmed by the State Election Commission
within 5 days of the day of its reception.
(2) In the
procedure for conf1rInation, the State Election Commission shall check if all
positively decided requests of the citizens by the Ministry of Justice, the
State Election Commission and the Supreme Court of the
(3) If the
State Election Commission determines that the positively decided requests have
not been entered in the Voters ' List and the excerpts, it shall be returned to
the Ministry of Justice. The corrections shall be made within 48 hours
following the day of their receipt.
For elections
that are held concurrently, there shall be as many confirmed excerpts of the
Voters ' List issued for each polling unit, as there are elections and/or
election rounds.
The contents of
the Voters' List and its excerpts on Election Day (first round) may not be
changed until the end of elections.
-----------------------
17 Translators'
note: "Critical moment" is a literal translation.
------------------------
(1) To
determine the scope of activities, the necessary financial means and the
dynamics of their use in the next year, the Ministry of Justice shall provide a
Program.
(2) The means
for updating and preparing the Voters' List shall be provided from the Budget
of the
III.
PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA IN THE VOTERS' LIST
(1) The
personal data contained in the Voters' List shall be protected according to the
provisions of the Law on Protection of Personal Data, and shall not be used for
any purpose other than exercising the citizens' right to vote, in accordance
with this Law.
(2) The
Ministry of Justice shall issue, in hard copy or electronic fonn on CD- ROM to
the registered political parties and to the independent candidates, upon their
written request, data from the verified or previously prepared excerpt of the
Voters' List and an excerpt from the Voters' List for each polling unit,
containing the data referred to in Article 14, paragraph (2) of this Law, for
participation in the elections.
(3) The
expenses for the preparation of the data of the Voters' List in hard copy or
electronic form shall be covered by the submitters of the request.
(4) The
registered political parties and the independent candidates, or the authorized
representatives of the list submitters and their deputies, may not use the
Voters ' Lists for recording the persons who have voted on Election Day.
An authorized
employee or any other person, body or organ, acquainted with the personal data
contained in the Voters ' List, shall be obliged to secure and protect them, as
regulated in Article 28 of this Law.
IV.
TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
(I) The effectiveness of entering personal data in accordance
with Article 4, paragraph (2) of this Law shall be applied after creating
conditions for that purpose.
(2) The State
Bureau of Statistics shall continue to perform the organizational, technical
and methodological processing of the data from the Voters ' List until the
final takeover by the Ministry of Justice, but no longer than two years
following the day this Law becomes effective.
(3) The data of
Articles 11 and 12 of this Law shall continue to be submitted to the State
Bureau of Statistics according to the deadline determined in paragraph (2) of
this Article.
(4) For the
voting of internally displaced persons, the Ministry of Justice shall prepare
separate excerpts of the Voters ' List, based on the records of the competent
bodies.
The Law on
Voters' Lists and Voter ID Card (Official Gazette of RM no. 49/96 and 9/98)
shall cease to be effective on the day this Law becomes effective.
This Law shall
enter into force on the day of its publishing in the "Official Gazette of
the