Early Termination of Office of an Election Commission or of a Member of an Election Commission
1. The office of all members of a district or precinct election commission may be terminated before the expiration of their ordinary term by a decision of the higher level commission that established it, by a decision of the commission itself, or by a judgment of a court in cases of systematic violation or one-time gross violation by the commission of the Constitution of Ukraine, this Law, or other Laws of Ukraine.
2. Early termination of office of all members of an election commission shall not be considered to be termination of the commission.
3. The office of an individual member of a district or precinct election commission may be terminated before the expiration of its ordinary term by a decision of the higher level commission on the grounds of: 1) a statement of resignation of the member of the commission; CDL-REF(2016)040 2) the filing of a submission seeking replacement of a member of the election commission by the entity nominating the member to the election commission; 3) termination of his or her Ukrainian citizenship; 4) his or her departure for the period up to the day of voting inclusive abroad or from the country in the territory of which an foreignelection precinct was established, which results in impossibility to perform the duties of member of a commission; 5) his or her registration as an MP candidate, a deputy candidate to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a deputy candidate to a local council or a candidate for a village, town or city mayor, if the aforementioned election is conducted simultaneously with the election of MPs; {Clause 5 Part 3 Article 37 as amended pursuant to the Law № 1184-VII dd. 08.04.2014} 6) his or her registration as a party’s representative in the Central Election Commission, an official observer, a party’s authorized person, a proxy of an MP candidate, or a proxy of a deputy candidate to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, deputy candidate to a local council or candidate for a village, town or city mayor, a representative or an authorized person of a local party organization, if the aforementioned elections are conducted simultaneously with the election of MPs; {Clause 6 Part 3 Article 37 as amended pursuant to the Law № 1184-VII dd. 08.04.2014} 7) his or her appointment to another election commission responsible for preparation and conduct of the election of MPs or the election of the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, deputies of local councils, or village, town or city mayors, if the aforementioned elections are conducted simultaneously with the election of MPs; {Clause 7 Part 3 Article 37 as amended pursuant to the Law № 1184-VII dd. 08.04.2014} 8) his or her refusal to take the oath of a commission member; 9) violation of the oath of a commission member in the form of a systematic failure to perform his or her duties ascertained by at least two decisions thereon adopted by the election commission of which he or she is a member; 10) a single instance of gross violation of the Laws of Ukraine on elections ascertained by a court judgment or by a decision of the higher level election commission; 11) if a judgment of a court comes into legal force, whereby he or she was found guilty of committing a grave or especially grave crime or a crime against citizens’ electoral rights; 12) discovery of the fact of criminal record for committing a grave or especially grave crime or a crime against citizens’ electoral rights, unless such a record has been cleared or canceled; 13) his or her being declared incompetent; 14) his or her death.
4. Should any of the grounds provided for by Clauses 5 – 8, 11 – 14 Part 3 of this Article appear, the office of the member of an election commission shall be terminated from the moment they appear or are detected; and as regards the grounds provided for by Clauses 1, 2, 4, 9, 10 Part 3 of this Article, from the moment the commission that established it adopts a decision on early termination of his or her office. A person who has filed an application seeking early termination of his or her office shall continue to act as the election commission’s head, deputy head, secretary, or member up to the point when the commission that established the respective commission takes a decision on early termination of his or her office. CDL-REF(2016)040
5. An election commission that adopts a decision on early termination of the office of all the members of an election commission or of a member of an election commission shall no later than on the following day notify the entity that nominated the person(s) to the election commission of the termination.
6. In case of early termination of office of all members of an election commission, the respective higher level election commission shall, no later than on the third day following the day of termination of office of all members of the commission, but in any case no later than on the day preceding the day of voting, approve a new composition of the election commission in accordance with the procedure set forth by this Law.
7. If the early termination of office of a member of an election commission results in a decrease in the number of members of the election commission below the minimum limits specified in Part 1 Article 27 or Parts 2 or 3 Article 28 of this Law, or in connection with the replacement of a member of an election commission, the respective higher-level election commission shall, no later than on the third day following the day of termination of his or her office, but no later than on the day preceding the day of voting, appoint to the commission, in accordance with the procedure established by the Central Election Commission, another person from among the nominees proposed by the entities specified in Clause 2 Part 2 Article 27 or Part 4 Article 28 of this Law, instead of the member whose office has been terminated, to bring the composition of such election commission in compliance with the minimum requirements for a commission’s composition; and if a submission is filed seeking replacement of a member of an election commission simultaneously with early termination of his or her office, it shall appoint to the respective commission a nominee from the same entity.
8. Should a decision on early termination of office of a member of an election commission be adopted on the day preceding the day of voting, such decision shall be adopted simultaneously with the decision appointing the replacement member of the respective election commission nominated by the same entity.
9. If the head, deputy head, or the secretary of an election commission regularly fails to perform his or her duties, the respective district election commission or precinct election commission shall be entitled to make a submission to the election commission that established it with a reasoned request that he or she be replaced, provided that such submission is supported by at least two-thirds of all the members of the commission; if the head, deputy head, or the secretary of an election commission refuses to exercise his or her powers, he or she may personally submit a statement on resignation to the election commission that established it. The aforementioned submission or statement shall be a subject to mandatory consideration within the terms of Part 7 of this Article. A decision replacing the head, deputy head, or the secretary of an election commission shall not necessarily result in termination of his or her office as a member of the election commission. Such decision shall be adopted in accordance with the requirements of Part 10 Article 27 and Part 11 Article 28 of this Law.
10. A new head, deputy head, or secretary of an election commission shall be appointed in accordance with the procedure specified by this Law.
