Competencies of the State Election Commission
(1) The State Election Commission shall safeguard the legality of the preparation and administration of the elections in accordance with this Code and shall supervise the work of the election management bodies.
(2) The State Election Commission shall:
1. request data from the competent bodies regarding the employees in the state administration, municipal administration and the administration of the City of Skopje, as well as the public administration, and shall appoint the members of the Municipal Election Commissions and the Election Commission of the City of Skopje;
2. give instructions, clarification and recommendations on the application of the provisions of this Code and other laws pertinent to election-related issues;
3. dismiss any member of an election management body in case of unlawful activities;
4. control the legality of the work of the election management bodies and take measures in case of violations related to the preparations, procedure for nomination, administration of the elections and establishing of the election results, as well as in case of violation of its instructions and recommendations;
5. confirm and publish the lists of candidates for the election of President and Members of Parliament and determine their order on the ballot by drawing lots;
5-a determine the order on the single list of candidates for members of council or for mayor by drawing lots.
6. adopt a programme and establish standards for obligatory education of all election management bodies and coordinate them;
7. provide obligatory education for the members of the Municipal Election Commissions i.e. Election Commission of the City of Skopje before all elections and issue certificates in the manner and within the deadline prescribed by the programme;
8. prescribe the template for the attendance certificates for the education of the members of the election management bodies;
9. establish common standards on the election material, manage its procurement and prescribe the means of marking and checking the persons who have voted (UV lamps, spray and graphite pad);
10. prescribe the templates for administering the elections and templates for collecting signatures of voters and Members of Parliament for the proposal of candidates and publish them in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia”;
11. determine the manner of handling and securing the election material;
12. determine the quality, form, size, colour and serial numbers of the ballots;
13. organize the printing of ballots and lists of candidates and the procurement of the voter identification system;
14. deliver the election materials to and retrieve them from the Municipal Election Commissions, i.e. and Election Commission of the City of Skopje and also keep the election materials;
14-a keep the election materials from the elections for President of the Republic, Members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia and referendum at a national level.
15. inform and educate the public about the manner of voting and the exercise of the right to vote;
16. adopt a Code on the rules for observing the elections by domestic and foreign observers, in accordance with international standards, and provide them with identification documents;
17. control the polling stations where irregularities are reported on Election Day;
18. pass a decision to confirm the adopted lists of candidates or to reject them if they are not drawn up in accordance with the provisions of this Code;
19. adopt a Rulebook to determine the criteria for the manner and procedure of election and dismissal of the president, his/her deputy, the members and their deputies in the election management bodies;
20. tabulate and establish the results from the voting for the lists of candidates at the level of electoral districts;
21. publish the preliminary results of the elections for President of the Republic, Members of Parliament, Members of Council and Mayor based on the data from the protocols of the election management bodies;
22. publish the final results of the administered elections;
23. issue certificates to the candidate elected for President of the Republic and to the candidates elected as Members of Parliament;
24. adopt a Rulebook and Instruction for the reimbursement of members of the election management bodies and the election administration, based on the number of voters, type, complexity and the scope of activities and the time needed for their completion;
25. submit a report to the Parliament on the administered elections within 45 days of the date of the announcement of the final results of the elections at the level of the municipality, the City of Skopje or the electoral district where the elections are administered and a financial overview and shall publish it on its website;
26. allocate the compensation for the expenses of the elected candidates according to the submitted financial report and publish it on its website;
27. adopt the Organization and Systematization Act of the Professional Service of the State Election Commission in which a Legal Service shall be organized and systematized and supporting bodies shall be established;
28. publish the descriptions of the polling stations in the daily press;
28-а) establish electronic system for case and complaints management;
28-b) be solely responsible for maintenance of the Voter Register;
28-c) provide electronic access to the Voter Register in accordance with this Code and in the manner prescribed in the regulations passed based on this Code;
28-d) The State Election Commission shall publish the Voter Registry on its website, with data on the name, surname and address of voters. Every citizen has the right to submit a request to the State Election Commission to prevent the publication of his/her address in the Voter Register for security reasons.
28-e) The State Election Commission shall update the Voter Register once a month, based on citizens’ notifications of change of data. Every 6 months, the State Election Commission shall publicly encourage citizens to check their data and, if necessary, request change of their data.
28-f) For the purposes of detecting inconsistencies or verifying the credibility of data in the Voter Register, each member of the State Election Commission has the right to request from the State Election Commission to authorize the Legal Department to check the archives of biometric documents at the Ministry of Interior, as well as other state bodies and institutions’ data bases and archives, under a procedure prescribed by a law or a bylaw, and to receive a written notification from them on the conducted checks within 5 working days.
28-g) The State Election Commission shall adopt a Rulebook on the Methodology for Maintaining and Updating the Voter Register based on checks and statistical analyses, cross-checks of various data-bases and records, unlimited field checks and other appropriate acknowledged verification methods. The State Election Commission shall adopt the Rulebook from item 28-е upon previous approval of the four largest political parties in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia.
28-h) The State Election Commission shall adopt a Rulebook on the Methodology on Full Access, Amendment and Deletion of Data in the Voter Register, as well as a procedure for conducting field checks for the purposes of updating the Voter Register. The State Election Commission shall adopt the Rulebook from item 28-h upon previous approval of the four largest political parties in the Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia.
29. keep records on the electoral right and see to the protection of the personal data of the citizens listed in the Voter Register;
30. check the integrity of the Voter Register database;
31. sign the Voter Register, i.e. the Voter Lists used for voting, not later than 15 days prior to Election Day;
32. contact international associations and organizations authorized to observe the elections or the referendum at the national level on issues related to the Voter Register;
33. provide media with data on the number of voters registered in the Voter Register i.e. the Voter Lists that have been signed;
34. adopt a Rulebook to prescribe the manner of operation and decision-making of the members of the State Election Commission;
34-а) The State Election Commission shall hold sessions if the majority of the total number of members are present;
34-b) The State Election Commission shall adopt decisions with a majority of votes of the total number of members of the Commission. When adopting a decision, the members of the State Election Commission shall vote either “for” or “against“. The vote of “abstinence” shall not be permitted and in such a case, the vote shall be considered “against”.
34-c) A decision of the State Election Commission shall be considered adopted if the majority of the total number of members of the Commission have voted, with the exception of the cases specified in items 34–d and 34-f of this article.
34-d) In a case when the draft-decision refers to the interests of a non-majority community, prior to putting the draft-decision forward for vote, any member of the State Election Commission who belongs to the non-majority community has a right to request that the State Election Commission decide upon such draft-decision by consensus.
34–e) In the case prescribed in item 34-d of this article, the draft-decision shall be submitted for a repeat review at the Legal Department, which will then be asked to give an expert opinion and a recommendation.
34-f) The member of the State Election Commission from item 34-d of this article and the member or members of the State Election Commission with an opposing opinion shall consult the Legal Department within one working day as of submission of the request from item 34-d of this article. These members of the State Election Commission shall propose a supplemented and elaborated decision within 2 working days. In order for the decision to be considered adopted, the submitted draft-decision must be adopted by consensus by the State Election Commission.
34–g) If no consensus is reached regarding the draft-decision within 2 working days and the State Election Commission does not adopt the decision by consensus, the decision shall not be considered adopted and it can be appealed before the Administrative Court.
34–h) The decision of the Administrative Court can be appealed before the Higher Administrative Court only in the case of items 34–d), 34-f) and 34–g). The Higher Administrative Court shall decide upon the appeal within the deadlines for the decision-making of the Administrative Court prescribed in this Code.
34–i) The deadlines set in Articles 147 to 149 of this Code shall not apply to the manner and the decision-making procedure prescribed in item 34-f) of this article.
35. decide upon complaints based on the inspection of election materials and other evidence;
36. adopt Rulebook on the proceedings of the police during the elections in co-operation with the Ministry of Interior;
37. adopt an instruction for deciding on complaints and appeals;
38. monitor the beginning and the end of the election campaign and take measures as determined by this Code;
39. prescribe the template of the voter application used for voting at the DCOs or the consular offices;
40. elect and establish the Election Boards for voting at the DCOs or the consular offices and the Election Board for the voting of the members of the Election Boards at the DCOs or the consular offices;
40-a adopt Guidelines on the manner of voting of the members of the Election Boards at the DCOs or the consular offices;
41. deliver and retrieve the election material to and from the Election Boards for voting at the DCOs or the consular offices, through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs;
42. tabulate and determine the voting results for the list of candidates for the election of three Members of Parliament from the electoral district which covers Europe, Africa, North and South America, Australia and Asia;
43. complete and submit statistical data for the needs of the State Statistical Office of the Republic of Macedonia;
43-a publicly announce the price lists of broadcasting and printed media on its web site;
43-b keep minutes of its sessions and publish the adopted minutes on its website within 48 hours from the date of their adoption;
44. perform other duties prescribed by this Code.
(3) The sessions of the State Election Commission shall be public.
(4) The State Election Commission shall initiate a disciplinary procedure, submit a request for initiating a misdemeanour procedure or file a criminal report to the competent authority upon probable cause that a violation of the provisions of this Code has been committed.
(5) In the municipalities where at least 20% of the citizens speak an official language other than the Macedonian language, the templates and the entire election material shall be printed in the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic alphabet and in the official language and alphabet spoken by at least 20% of the citizens in that municipality.
(6) In the electoral districts 7, 8 and 9 from this Code, in which at least 20% of the voters registered in the Voter List speak an official language other than the Macedonian language, the templates and the entire election material shall be printed in the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic alphabet and in the official language and the alphabet used by at least 20% of the voters registered in the Voter List for that electoral district.
(7) The authorised representatives of the list submitters have the right to be present during the work and the decision making of the State Election Commission and decisions shall be passed on their complaints.
