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Article 55
 

Count of votes at the voting precinct when holding elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, deputies of the House of Representatives and deputies of local Councils of Deputies and the referendum


The precinct commission shall open ballot boxes after the chairperson of the commission declares the voting closed.Opening of the ballot boxes before the end of voting shall be prohibited.Before opening the ballot boxes the number of the ballot not used shall be counted and announced, which then are cancelled, piled in packets and sealed.The way of cancellation of the ballots shall be determined by the precinct commission.On the packets the number of the voting precinct, the number of ballots not used shall be written.The packets shall be signed by the chairperson and the secretary of the precinct commission in presence of members of the commission.


Opening of the ballot boxes and counting of votes when holding the elections carried out in the following order:first the ballots kept in the ballot box used during early voting shall be counted, then those kept in portable boxes used for voting at the place of location of voters or participants in the referendum and, after that, in ballot boxes kept on the day of elections or referendum in the room of the voting precinct.The results of counting of votes are announced by the chairperson of the commission.


Counting of votes of the voters shall be performed directly by the members of the precinct commission without interruption till obtaining the results of the voting.


In case of elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus or a deputy of the House of Representatives the counting of votes at the voting precinct is performed separately for each candidate for the President and for deputy of the House of Representatives whereas in case of elections of deputies of local Councils of Deputies – separately for each electoral circuit and each candidate for deputy for elections to the respective local Council of Deputies.


The precinct commission establishes, according to the list of citizens who have the right to take part in elections or referendum, the total number of voters or participants in the referendum at the precinct whereas in case of elections for local Councils of Deputies – for each electoral circuit as well as the number of voters or participants in the referendum who have received ballots.


On the basis of the ballots that were in the ballot boxes mentioned in part two of this Article the precinct commission shall, firstly in a separate way and then by summarizing the data, establish:


in case of elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus and deputies of the House of Representatives – the total number of voters who have taken part in the voting, including the voters who have participated in early voting, the number of voters who have voted at their place of location and the number of voters who have taken part in voting at the premises of the voting precinct on the elections day; the number of votes given for each candidate for the President, deputies and the number of votes given against all candidates for the President, deputies (if voting was for one candidate, - the number of votes given against the candidate); the number of ballots recognized as invalid;


in case of elections of deputies of local Councils of Deputies – for each electoral circuit, the total number of voters who have taken part in the voting, including the number of voters who have voted at their place of location and the number of voters who have taken part in voting at the premises of the voting precinct on the elections day; the number of votes given for each candidate for deputy and the number of votes given against all candidates of deputies (if voting was for one candidate, - the number of votes given against the candidate), the number of ballots recognized as invalid;


in case of a referendum - the total number of participants in the referendum who have taken part in the voting, the number of participants in the referendum who have participated in early voting, the number of participants in the referendum who have voted at their place of location and the number of participants in referendum who have taken part in voting at the premises of the voting precinct on the elections day, the number of voters voted for the approval of the issue (draft of the decision) proposed for the referendum and the number of those who votes against its approval, and the number of ballots recognized as invalid.


To introduce changes in the lists of citizens having the right to participate in the elections after the counting has begun is prohibited.


In case of elections or referendum, ballots that differ from the established sample, ballots having no signatures of the persons who are members of the district commission on their reverse side shall be recognized as invalid, and in case of the holding of elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus and deputies of the House of Representatives and deputies of local Councils of Deputies – also ballots in which the name of only one candidate have been included or and , and when holding a referendum also ballots in which the sign is put in more than one square or in no square.


When doubts arise concerning the validity of a ballot the issue is to be solved by the precinct commission through voting.In that event on the reverse side of every of such ballots a note on recognition of this ballot either valid or rejected is to be made.That note is countersigned by not less than two persons composing the precinct commission.The invalid ballots are packed separately.


After completing the counting of votes, the sitting of the precinct commission shall be held where the results of the counting of votes shall be established and put in the protocol.In the protocol besides the data determined in parts five and six of this Article the number of ballots received by the precinct commission, the number of spoilt ballot, the number of ballot not used are to be mentioned.In case of elections of deputies of local Councils of Deputies, the protocol shall be made separately for each electoral circuit.When two or more referendums are held at the same time, a protocol is to be drawn up for each of them separately.Filling in the protocol with a pencil and introducing of any corrections are not allowed.The protocol is signed by the chairperson, the deputy chairperson, the secretary and the members of the commission.At the sitting of the precinct commission special opinions, if any, as well as complaints and applications about violations by voting or by counting the votes are to be considered.


A copy of the protocol of the precinct commission after its signing shall be put up for general familiarization in the place determined by the commission.


In case of elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus or the republican or the regional or Minsk City referendum, the protocol shall be submitted, after establishment of the results of count of votes, in person by the chairperson or the deputy chairperson or the secretary of the precinct commission to the respective district, city or district-in-the-city commission on elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus and on the referendum, whereas in case of elections of deputies of the House of Representatives or deputies of local Councils of Deputies to the respective circuit or territorial electoral commission as well as to the body that formed the commission for information.The protocol forwarded to the superior commission is to be accompanied, if any, by special opinions of the members of the commission, declarations of the authorized persons of candidates and other persons on violations committed in the course of voting or during the count of votes and decisions take on them by the commission.


If the body that has formed the commission detects a violation of the requirements of this Code and other acts of legislation of the Republic of Belarus committed during voting or counting of votes, it shall be immediately informed to the relevant superior electoral commission, commission on referendum or the Central Commission.