Ensuring the security of the voting process

(1) On Election Day, at 07:00 a.m. the chairperson of the Precinct Electoral Bureau, in the presence of no less than half of the bureau members, shall check the ballot boxes and seal them. The chairperson shall also check the integrity of voters’ lists, ballot papers and stamps and file a Protocol in duplicate. The Protocol shall be signed by all present Precinct Electoral Bureau members, and one copy of the Protocol is inserted into the ballot box, and the chairperson declares the voting open.

(2) Ballot papers shall be stored in a secure place within the polling station, arranged in packages of 100, and shall be allotted by the precinct chairperson to bureau members to be issued to voters as necessary.

(3) Members of the Precinct Electoral Bureau as well as representatives of the candidates and persons authorised to observe the election procedures shall be required to wear visible badges. People entering the polling station are prohibited to wear or present badges, pins or other symbols of electoral campaigning.

(4) If, for health or other ground reasons, the voter is unable to come to the polling station, upon the person’s written request, the Precinct Electoral Bureau shall designate no less than two bureau members to go to the voter’s accommodation place to conduct the voting, bringing with them a mobile ballot box and all the materials necessary for voting. The requests may be submitted in writing within 2 weeks prior to the Election Day and until 18:00 of the day preceding the elections. On the Election Day, the requests may be submitted in writing until 15:00, upon the submission of a medical certificate. These persons shall vote as per the voters’ list for voting at the place of stay, compiled by the Precinct Electoral Bureau. The persons who are not included in such voters’ list, are not eligible to vote at the place of their accommodation. A note shall be made reading “Voted at the place of accommodation” in the voters’ list next to the name of such persons. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to the voting abroad.

(5) Persons detained as per an arrest warrant until a Court sentence is pronounced, persons sentenced to prison (deprivation of liberty) whose sentence is not final; persons under arrest for committing an offence, person sentenced to prison (deprivation of liberty) by a final Court decision, located in penitentiaries shall vote in compliance with paragraph (4), using a mobile ballot box.

(6) If the chairperson of the precinct bureau authorizes a mobile ballot box to be taken out of the polling station, he/she shall notify such fact, as well as the list of voters who requested to vote at place of accommodation to representatives of candidates and persons authorised to observe the election procedures. The latter shall be offered the possibility to accompany the mobile box using own transportation means if necessary.

(7) The chairperson of the Precinct Electoral Bureau shall be responsible for maintaining order on Election Day within the polling station and territory adjacent to it within a radius of 100 meters. The decisions he/she takes to this end are binding for all.

(8) The following persons shall be entitled to attend the election body meetings, be present at votes counting and tabulation, during the activities related to voters’ lists, ballot papers, vote certificates, and to filing the Protocols of elections and referendum results:

a) members and representatives of the superior electoral bodies;

b) representatives of candidates to electoral bodies;

c) national and international observers accredited by the respective bodies, as well as their interpreters, as appropriate;

d) Media representatives.

No other person may remain within the polling section longer than it takes one to vote.

(9) It shall be strictly forbidden to enter a polling station carrying firearms or bladed weapon. Upon the request of the chairperson of the Precinct Electoral Bureau, a security officer may enter the polling station premises only to assist in re-establishing legal order.