Under the revised draft amendments, the status of partisan and non-partisan members of election commissions is not identical. For example, while non-partisan PEC members are elected by two-thirds majority of the relevant DEC, they require in addition the support of at least three DEC members elected by the CEC for a five-year term, i.e. the support of non-partisan members. Another example is the election of PEC chairpersons, deputy chairpersons and secretaries, from which partisan PEC members are excluded. Moreover, partisan members may not participate in casting lots for identifying registrars of voters, PEC and DEC summary protocols of polling results have legal force only if they have been signed by two-thirds of the PEC and DEC non-partisan members (i.e. elected by the corresponding DEC and the CEC respectively) and at least one partisan member. The reasons for such differences in status are not clear. In this connection, attention is drawn to statements made in the first Joint Urgent Opinion according to which the low level of trust in election commissions was due to widespread perceptions that their non-partisan members were ostensibly ruling party loyalists. Against this background, giving more weight to non-partisan members of election commissions might not be the ideal solution. If this regulation is nevertheless maintained, it will be even more important to ensure a transparent, merit-based process for the appointment of non-partisan members, as recommended previously and above.