(1) Only electoral lists which have won at least 3% of votes of the total number of voters who have voted in the constituency shall take part in the distribution of mandates.

(2) Political parties of national minorities and coalitions of political parties of national minorities shall participate in the distribution of mandates even if they have won less than 3% of the total number of votes cast, so that when the highest quotients system is applied to the distribution of the mandates, the quotients of all electoral lists of national minority political parties or coalitions of national minority political parties shall increase by 35%.

(3) A political party of a national minority, within the meaning of paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be the party for which the Republic Electoral Commission has established that its main objective is to represent and advocate the interests of the national minority and to protect and improve the rights of the members of the national minority, in accordance with international legal standards.

(4) Whether the submitter of an electoral list holds a status of a national minority political party or a coalition of national minority political parties, within the meaning of paragraph 2 of this Article, shall be subject to a special decision of the Republic Electoral Commission issued when proclaiming the electoral list, at the proposal of the submitter of the electoral list that needs to be put forth when submitting the electoral list. The Republic Electoral Commission may request an opinion of the competent National Council of the national minority on whether the submitter of the electoral list is a national minority political party or a coalition of national minority political parties