Home > 2.1.1 Electoral commissions > THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA - Joint Opinion on the Electoral Code as Amended on 9 November 2015
 
 
 
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Paragraph 32
 

For greater transparency, Article 31(3) has been added to the Code to specify that SEC sessions be public. The 2015 amendments also introduced new rules for SEC decision-making processes. Absentee voting is no longer possible and all decisions should be adopted by a majority vote of the total number of members (Article 31(2)(34-b – 34-c). These amendments are positive and address prior OSCE/ODIHR and Venice Commission recommendations. The new Article 31(2)(34-d) also provides that in case a draft decision refers to the interests of a non-majority community, any member of the non-majority community has the right to request that the SEC decide with consensus. While measures to ensure protection of minorities are laudable, no definition of the interests of a non-majority community is given, which could lead to stalemates or complicated legal disputes.