Procedure for Delivery of Ballot Papers to Election Commissions

1. A district election commission shall, at its meeting, accept the ballot papers, packaged by the printing enterprise, from a representative of the Central Election Commission (regional or territorial representation of the Central Election Commission) authorized by a decision of the Central Election Commission to hand over the ballot papers.

The district election commission shall draw a protocol in three copies recording the acceptance of the ballot papers. The aforementioned protocol shall be drawn according to the procedure specified by Part six of Article 37 of this Code and shall be signed by the authorized representative of the Central Election (regional or territorial representation of the Central Election Commission) handing over the ballot papers. The first copy of the protocol shall be delivered to the Central Election Commission; the second copy shall be kept in custody of the district election commission; and the third copy shall be immediately posted in the premises of the district election commission for public review.

Should it be impossible to transfer the ballot papers from the Central Election Commission to the district election commission, the respective ballot papers shall be considered unused and shall be invalidated by the Central Election Commission by way of handing them over for destruction to the manufacturer in the presence of representatives of the Central Election Commission (regional or territorial representation of the Central Election Commission) and the control commission established by the Central Election Commission in accordance with Part four of Article 169 of this Code, and the respective act shall be drawn up thereof.

2. A district election commission shall ensure storage and safekeeping of ballot papers received from the Central Election Commission (regional or territorial representation of the Central Election Commission). Ballot papers shall be kept in the office of the district election commission in a safe (a metal case or a separate room), which shall be sealed with tape bearing the signatures of all members of the commission present at the meeting and having the commission seal affixed thereto. The safe (a metal case or a separate room) shall be continuously (until the transfer of the ballot papers to the precinct election commissions) guarded by a representative of the police.


3. A district election commission shall transfer the ballot papers to the precinct election commissions of the respective territorial district at a meeting of the district election commission no sooner than three days prior to the day of voting. The ballot papers shall be received by no less than three members of each precinct election commission.


4. A district election commission shall draw a protocol on the transfer of ballot papers to the precinct election commissions of the district under the procedure and in the form established by Part six of Article 37 of this Code. The protocol shall contain:

1)      the number of the territorial district;

2)      the number of ballot papers received from the district election commission;

3)      the number of each election precinct in which its commission members receive the ballot papers;

4)      the number of the ballot papers transferred to the election precinct;

5)      last names and signatures of the precinct election commission members, who received ballot papers.

5. The protocol on the handover of the ballot papers to the precinct election commissions shall be completed in three copies. The copies of the protocol shall be numbered and shall have equal legal force. The first copy of the protocol shall be submitted to the Central Election Commission, the second copy shall be stored at the district election commission, and the third copy shall be immediately posted in the premises of the district election commission for public review.


6. An excerpt from the protocol prepared in accordance with the form approved by the Central Election Commission, signed by the chair and secretary of the district election commission and three members of the respective precinct election commission and affixed with the seal of the district election commission, specifying the data related to the respective election precinct, shall be handed together with the ballot papers over to the representatives of each precinct election commission who received the ballot papers.


7. Ballot papers shall be delivered to the precinct election commissions of the out-of-country election precincts by the Central Election Commission through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pursuant to the procedure specified by Central Election Commission. The Central Election Commission shall draw up a protocol, as specified in Part five of this Article, on delivery of the ballot papers to the election commissions of the out-of-country election precincts. The protocol shall be completed in two copies, one of which shall be stored at the Central Election Commission, while the other copy, together with excerpts from the protocols for each out-of-country election precinct, shall be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine; information included in the aforementioned protocol shall, no later than on the following day, be made public on the official website of the Central Election Commission.


8. Any member of the district election commission, an MP candidate, a party’s authorized person, or official observer who was present during the delivery of the ballot papers shall be entitled, upon request, to familiarize themselves with the protocols specified in Parts one and five of this Article.


9. The precinct election commission members of regular and special election precincts shall transport the ballot papers received by them to the premises of the precinct election commission, accompanied by a representative of the police who shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the ballot papers.


10. Immediately after the arrival of the election commission members who received the ballot papers, the ballot papers shall be accepted by the precinct election commission at a meeting. The secretary of the commission shall open the packaging of the manufacturing enterprise and affix the precinct election commission’s seal on the designated places of each ballot paper. Another member of the precinct election commission, appointed by a decision of the commission, shall count the ballot papers and check the accuracy of indication of the election district and the number of the territorial district and the election precinct on the ballot papers.


11. During the counting of the ballot papers, a member of the precinct election commission, appointed by a decision of the commission, shall count the number of ballot papers, while other members of the commission shall observe counting of the ballot papers. During the counting of the ballot papers, it shall be prohibited to divide the commission into groups to count separate parts of all ballot papers.


12. If a discrepancy is found between the number of ballot papers indicated in the excerpt from the protocol of the district election commission on the handover of the ballot papers, the precinct election commission shall produce an act, in three copies, on such discrepancies, which shall indicate the reason for the discrepancy as established by a decision of the precinct election commission. This act shall be completed in the form and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Part six of Article 37 of this Code. One copy of the act shall be submitted to the district election commission, the second copy shall be stored at the precinct election commission, while the third copy shall be immediately posted in the premises of the precinct election commission for public review. If such discrepancies are detected, the number of the ballot papers received by the precinct election commission shall be deemed to be the number of the ballot papers established at the meeting of the precinct election commission and entered in the act on discrepancies and in the minutes of the meeting of the commission.


13. The ballot papers shall be stored in the premises of the precinct election commission in a safe (metal case) which shall be sealed at the same meeting of the commission with a tape signed by all persons present at the election commission’s meeting and affixed with the election commission’s seal, and shall be continuously (until the start of the preparatory meeting of the commission specified by Part three of Article 172 of this Code) guarded by a representative of the police.


14. If damage to the tape sealing the safe (metal case) or a discrepancy between the signatures or the seal on the tape and the authentic signatures or the seal is detected, the chair of the precinct election commission shall immediately notify the bodies of the National Police of Ukraine and the district election commission. The chair of the commission shall then immediately open the safe (metal case) and remove all the ballot papers. The precinct election commission members shall check the ballot papers to determine whether the number of the territorial district and the number of the election precinct recorded on them is correct, and whether the precinct election commission’s seal is affixed thereto; and, after that they shall re-count the ballot papers. The precinct election commission shall produce act(s) on the detected signs of opening of the safe (metal case) and on any discrepancy between the numbers of the ballot papers (if detected). The aforementioned acts shall be completed in the form and in accordance with the procedure prescribed by Part six of Article 37 of this Code. The number of the ballot papers in the safe (metal case) shall be also entered in the minutes of the election commission’s meeting. In such case, the established number of ballot papers shall be deemed the number of ballot papers received by the precinct election commission.


15. Should it be impossible to transfer the ballot papers from the district election commission to the precinct election commission, the respective ballot papers shall be considered unused, and the respective act shall be drawn up thereof in a form established by the Central Election Commission. One copy of the act shall be submitted to the Central Election Commission, the second copy shall be stored at the respective district election commission. Such ballot papers shall be invalidated by cutting off the bottom right corner of the ballot papers. The invalidated unused ballot papers shall be packed, and the inscription “Unused ballot papers invalidated by district election commission” shall be made on the package, with indication of the number of the territorial district, as well as the number (numbers) of election precinct, number of packaged ballots, date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the district election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.