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Article 82.
 

Procedure for Delivery of Ballot Papers to Election Commissions


1. No sooner than seven days prior to the day of voting, a district election commission shall, at its meeting, accept the ballot papers, packaged by the printing enterprise, from a representative of the Central Election Commission authorized by a decision of the Central Election Commission to hand over the ballot papers. The district election commission shall draw a protocol in three copies recording the acceptance of the ballot papers. The aforementioned protocol shall be drawn according to the procedure specified by Part 8 Article 35 of this Law and shall be signed by the authorized representative of the Central Election Commission handing over the ballot papers. The first copy of the protocol shall be delivered to the Central Election Commission; the second copy shall be kept in custody of the district election commission; and the third copy shall be immediately posted in the premises of the district election commission for public review.


2. A district election commission shall ensure storage and safekeeping of ballot papers received from the Central Election Commission. Ballot papers shall be kept in the office of the district election commission in a safe (a metal case or a separate room), which shall be sealed with tape bearing the signatures of all members of the commission present at the meeting and having the commission seal affixed thereto. The safe (a metal case or a separate room) shall be continuously (until the transfer of the ballot papers to the precinct election commissions) guarded by a representative of the police.


3. A district election commission shall not earlier than 3 days prior to the voting day and not later than 24 hours prior to the voting day at its session transfer the voting ballots to precinct election commissions of a respective district. The voting ballots shall be received by not less than three members of each precinct election commission.


4. A district election commission shall draw a protocol on the transfer of ballot papers to the precinct election commissions of the district under the procedure and in the form established by Part 8 Article 35 of this Law, separately for the nationwide election district ballot papers and single-mandate election district ballot papers. The protocol shall contain: 1) indication of the election district (nationwide or single-mandate) and the number of the singlemandate election district; 2) the number of the nationwide election district ballot papers and single-mandate election district ballot papers received by the district election commission; 3) the number of each election precinct in which its commission members receive the ballot papers; 4) the number of voters on the voter list for each election precinct as of the day of drawing the protocol; 5) the number of nationwide election district ballot papers and single-mandate election district ballot papers transferred to each precinct election precinct; 6) last names and signatures of the precinct election commission members who received the ballot papers; 7) the number of ballot papers remaining in the district election commission.


5. The protocol on the handover of the ballot papers to the precinct election commissions shall be completed in three copies. The copies of the protocol shall be numbered and shall have equal legal force. The first copy of the protocol shall be submitted to the Central Election Commission, the second copy shall be stored at the district election commission, and the third copy shall be immediately placed in the premises of the district election commission for public review. Copies of the protocol, certified on each page by the head and secretary of the district election commission and affixed with the commission’s seal, shall be distributed to the members of the district election commission, each of them receiving no more than one copy.


6. An excerpt from the protocol prepared in accordance with the form approved by the Central Election Commission, signed by the head and secretary of the district election commission and three members of the respective precinct election commission and affixed with the seal of the district election commission, specifying the data related to the respective election precinct, shall be handed together with the ballot papers over to the representatives of each precinct election commission who received the ballot papers.


7. Ballot papers shall be delivered to the precinct election commissions of the foreign election district by the Central Election Commission through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the manner specified by the Central Election Commission, no earlier than three days prior to the day of voting; if necessary, as an exception, the ballot papers can be delivered as early as six day prior to the day of voting. The Central Election Commission shall draw up a protocol, as specified in Part 5 of this Article, on delivery of the ballot papers to the election commissions of the foreign election district. The protocol shall be completed in two copies, one of which shall be stored at the Central Election Commission, while the other copy, together with excerpts from the protocols for each foreign election precinct, shall be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; information included in the aforementioned protocol shall, no later than on the following day, be made public on the official website of the Central Election Commission.


8. Any MP candidate, proxy of a candidate, authorized person of a party, or official observer who was present during the delivery of the ballot papers shall be entitled, upon their request, to receive without delay copies of the protocols specified in Parts 1 and 5 of this Article, signed on each page by the head and the secretary of the district election commission and affixed with seal of the commission, in a number which shall not exceed one copy of the protocol per each party or MP candidate in the single-mandate election district, and not more than one copy of the protocol for the official observer (group of observers) from each non-governmental organization, foreign state or international organization. Copies of the protocol specified in Part 7 of this Article shall be distributed to the representatives of the parties in the Central Election Commission.


{Part 8 Article 82 as amended pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


9. The members of the precinct election commissions of regular and special election precincts (except the election precincts established on the ships sailing at that time under the National Flag of Ukraine and at Ukraine’s polar station) shall transport the ballot papers received by them to the premises of the precinct election commission, accompanied by a representative of the police who shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the ballot papers.


10. Immediately after the arrival of the members of the election commission who received the ballot papers, the ballot papers shall be accepted by the precinct election commission at a meeting. The secretary of the commission shall affix the seal of the precinct election commission on the designated places of each ballot paper. Another member of the precinct election commission, appointed by a decision of the commission, shall separately count the ballot papers received for the nationwide election district and for the single-mandate election district, and check the accuracy of the indication of the election district and of the numbers of the single-mandate election district and of the election precinct on the ballot papers.


11. During the counting of the ballot papers, a member of the precinct election commission, appointed by a decision of the commission, shall count aloud the number of nationwide election district ballot papers and of single-mandate election district ballot papers. Other members of the commission shall observe the counting of the ballot papers. During the counting of the ballot papers, it shall be prohibited to divide the commission into groups to count separate parts of all ballot papers shall be prohibited.


12. If a discrepancy is found between the number of ballot papers for the nationwide election district and (or) the single-mandate election district and the respective numbers indicated in the excerpt from the protocol of the district election commission on the handover of the ballot papers, the precinct election commission shall produce a report (reports), in three copies, on such discrepancies, which shall indicate the reason for the discrepancy as established by a decision of the precinct election commission. This report (reports) shall be completed in the form and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Part 8 Article 35 of this Law. One copy of the report(s) shall be submitted to the district election commission, the second copy shall be stored at the precinct election commission, while the third shall be immediately posted in the premises of the precinct election commission for general information. If such discrepancies are detected, the number of the ballot papers received by the precinct election commission shall be deemed to be the number of the ballot papers established at the meeting of the precinct election commission and entered in the report on discrepancies and in the minutes of the meeting of the commission.


{Part 12 Article 82 as amended pursuant to the Law № 709-VII dd. 21.11.2013}


13. The ballot papers shall be stored in the premises of the precinct election commission in a safe (metal case) which shall be sealed at the same meeting of the commission with a tape signed by all persons present at the meeting of the election commission and affixed with the seal of the election commission, and shall be continuously (until the start of the preparatory meeting of the commission specified by Part 3 Article 84 of this Law) guarded by a representative of the police.


14. If damage to the tape sealing the safe (metal case) or a discrepancy between the signatures or the seal on the tape and the authentic signatures or the seal is detected, the head of the precinct election commission shall immediately notify the bodies of internal affairs of Ukraine and the district election commission. The head of the commission shall then immediately open the safe (metal case) and remove all the ballot papers. The members of the precinct election commission shall check the ballot papers to determine whether the number of the district and the number of the election precinct recorded on them is correct, and whether the seal of the precinct election commission is affixed thereto; and, after that they shall re-count the ballot papers separately for the nationwide and single-mandate election districts. The precinct election commission shall produce report(s) on the detected signs of opening of the safe (metal case) and on any discrepancy between the numbers of the ballot papers (if detected). The aforementioned report(s) shall be completed in the form and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Part 8 Article 35 of this Law. The number of the ballot papers in the safe (metal case) shall be also entered in the minutes of the meeting of the election commission. In such case, the established number of ballot papers shall be deemed the number of ballot papers received by the precinct election commission.