Voting at Home and Early Voting

1. Disabled voters, voters with temporary working incapacity, voters aged 70 and over if because of the health condition they are unable to come to a post office to vote or to a polling station on election day and if they request in the form set by the CEC are enabled for voting at home. Election Commissions which make up and verify lists of voters voting at home shall be entitled to receive information concerning disabled people from the State Social Insurance Fund Board or its territorial departments, and information concerning people with temporary working incapacity – from healthcare establishments. Election Commissions must not disseminate this information and shall use it only for making up and verifying lists of voters voting at home.

2. Only those voters may vote in advance, who are unable to arrive at a polling station to vote on election day. A MEC shall organise early voting. Early voting must be conducted from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm on the Wednesday and Thursday preceding a election day, in the premises prepared beforehand and set up for voting, which are situated in the building in which a workplace of mayor (director of the administration) of that municipality is located. In order to issue and accept ballots and voting envelopes during early voting, the MEC chairperson shall appoint not less than 2 members of a MEC or PECs who cannot be proposed by the same political party. Early voting shall be supervised by the MEC chairperson or, on her/his instruction, a MEC member. The CEC chairperson, a member of this Commission authorised by the CEC chairperson or the MEC chairperson who has established, in accordance with the CEC procedure, the cases of bribery of voters, transportation of a voter to vote, encouragement to vote for a fee or other cases grossly violating the voter's rights, must suspend early voting until the violations will be removed and it will be possible to conduct an election freely and democratically in accordance with the requirements of this Law.

3. Voters’ requests for voting at home shall be submitted to PECs. The acceptance of requests for voting at home from voters who reside within the territory of the respective particular precinct shall start with the issue of Voter cards to such voters and end on the last Wednesday before election day. The acceptance of requests for voting at home from voters who temporarily stay within the territory of the respective precinct and have not been entered on the voter list of this precinct shall end on the last Tuesday before election day. A voter who because of her/his physical handicaps, illness or any other reasons is unable to fill in a request for voting at home or to hand it to a PEC, may authorise her/his family member, neighbour or a person who takes care of him to carry out the said actions for him. These people shall sign the voter’s request and indicate their name, surname and personal number.

4. On the last Thursday before election day, a PEC shall compile and approve a list of voters voting at home. On the Wednesday preceding election day a MEC shall compile and approve a list of voters who reside or temporarily stay within the territory of a concrete precinct but have been entered on the voter list of another precinct and have not been entered on the voter list of this precinct when revising them.

5. On the Friday or Saturday preceding election day, from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm at least two members of a PEC shall deliver postal vote covering envelopes and ballots to the homes of the voters who have been entered on the list of voters voting at home. On the Thursday preceding election day at least two MEC members or, by order of the MEC chairperson, at least two PEC members shall deliver postal vote covering envelopes and ballots to the homes of the voters who have been entered on the municipal list of voters voting at home, but who have not been entered on the Voter list for Precinct within the territory of which they temporarily stay. Voting at home and early voting may be observed by election observers who have the certificate to observe elections in any polling station. After the voting is completed, the sealed covering envelopes shall be delivered to the MEC which will transfer them to polling stations together with election documents of voters who voted by post. Lists of voters who voted at home and in advance, ballots which were not used, shall be included into the records and preserved by the election Commissions which organised voting. After the end of elections such commissions shall transfer the said documents together with other elections documents to an appropriate MEC or the CEC.

6. A concrete schedule of election Commission members’ coming to the homes of voters shall be approved by the PEC or MEC chairperson not later than, respectively, in the Wednesday or Thursday preceding the election day. This schedule shall be made public; its copy shall be posted on the billboard of PEC (MEC) on the day of approval of the schedule. Only the election Commission members and election observers proposed by different political parties may come together to the homes of the voters.

7. The Article 57(6) and (7) of this Law shall apply to voting at home and early voting.

8. The voter shall hand the sealed covering envelope (which contains the Voter card, the ballot envelope with the ballot in it) to a PEC (MEC) member. Having received the envelope from the voter, s/he shall give the voter a receipt confirming the acceptance of this envelope.

9. When a voter votes at home or carries out early voting, it shall be prohibited to exert influence on her/his determination and to hasten her/his voting. Commission members shall be prohibited from carrying out the actions for a voter, referred to in Article 57(6) and (7) of this Law, as well as from accepting an unsealed covering envelope from a voter. Voters shall be prohibited from taking out ballots or giving them to other people.