Appointment of members of boards of officers

1 – By the twenty-fourth day before that of the election, the delegates shall meet at the seat of the parish council, as convened by the respective chair, to choose the officers of polling stations and sections thereof, with the mayor being immediately notified of this choice. Where the polling station has been divided up, only one delegate from each list of those who have been nominated by the candidates or by the agents of the different lists shall attend the meeting.

2 – In the absence of agreement, on the twenty-third or twenty-second day prior to that of the election, the delegate of each list shall write to the mayor proposing two citizens for each place yet to be filled, so that a choice can be made between them by a lottery held within 24 hours in the town hall, in the presence of the delegates of the lists competing in the election, in the polling section in question. If the delegates of the lists propose no citizens, it is the responsibility of the mayor to appoint the members of the board of officers whose places are unfilled.

3 – At polling sections where the number of citizens with the requirements needed to form boards of officers is demonstrably insufficient, the mayor has the competence to appoint the missing members from among the citizens who are registered on the electoral roll for the same parish.

4 – The names of the members of the board of officers chosen by the delegates for the lists or by the authorities referred to in the previous paragraphs shall be published in the form of a public notice, which shall be affixed to the door of the seat of the parish council within a time limit of 48 hours. During the following two days, any elector may challenge the choice before the mayor or the chairman of the municipal administrative committee on the grounds that the requirements laid down in this Law have not been met.

5 – The said authority shall decide on the challenge within 24 hours and, if he upholds it, shall immediately make a new appointment by means of a lottery to be held at the town hall or the neighbourhood administration building, in the presence of the delegates for the lists that are competing in the election at the polling section in question.

6 – By the twelfth day before that of the election, the mayor shall draw up the writ of appointment of the members of the boards of officers of the polling stations and shall notify the competent parish councils of said appointments.

7 – The mayor shall, in accordance with paragraph (2), immediately appoint substitutes for persons who are appointed members of a board of officers of an electoral station and who, at least three days before the elections, justify, as laid down by law, that it is impossible for them to exercise those functions.

8 – The provisions of the preceding paragraphs shall apply to the appointment of the officers of mobile advance polling stations, with the following adaptations:
a) The meeting referred to in paragraph (1) shall be held at the town hall, upon convocation by the respective mayor;
b) It is incumbent upon the mayor, for the purposes of the provisions of paragraph (3), to appoint the missing members of the boards of officers of polling stations from among the citizens enrolled on the electoral register of the parishes of their municipalities;
c) The public notice referred to in paragraph (4) shall be affixed at the seat of the municipality;
d) The complaint referred to in paragraph (4) shall be made to the mayor.

9 – For the purposes of the provisions of Article 40-B(3), the mayor can decide to establish more than one mobile advance polling station.

10 – In the case of polling stations operating abroad, the powers attributed to the mayor are deemed to lie with the chair of the registration board.

11 – In the case of polling stations operating abroad, the notice provided for in paragraph (4) shall be affixed to the door of the place where they meet on the day of the election, and the notification provided for in paragraph (6) shall be waived.