Tabulation of voting results by the District Electoral Council

(1) After receiving the minutes and reports on the votes counting results from the Precinct Electoral Bureaus, the electoral council shall first determine the number of voters who have participated in elections and communicate that figure to the Central Electoral Commission. If the voters’ turnout throughout the district is less than required to declare the elections valid in that district, the District Electoral Council shall notify the Central Electoral Commission about such fact. Central Electoral Commission shall make a public announcement by which declares the elections invalid for the entire country or for that particular district.

(2) Based on the minutes of the Precinct Electoral Bureaus, the District Electoral Council shall establish, with respect to the entire district:

a) the number of voters included on the basic Voters’ Lists;

b) the number of voters included on the supplementary Voters’ Lists;

c) the number of voters who received ballot papers;

d) the number of voters who voted;

e) the difference between the number of ballot papers received by the voters and the number of voters who voted;

f) the number of ballot papers declared invalid;

g) the number of votes cast per electoral competitor/for each option on which the voters have to express their opinion within the referendum;

h) the total number of valid casted votes;

i) the number of ballot papers received by the District Electoral Council;

j) the number of unused and cancelled ballot papers, as well as those filled in incorrectly and cancelled.

(3) The District Electoral Council record in minutes the voting results on the entire Electoral District, which must be signed by all the members of the electoral council. The district electoral council member is not entitled to refuse to sign the minutes and, if he/she disagrees with the content of the minutes, he/she may express in writing his/her separate opinion that shall be attached to the minutes. The refusal by the member of the District Electoral Council to sign the minutes on the voting results has no influence on the validity of the document. The refusal by the member of the District Electoral Council and the other reasons for the absence of the signature shall be mentioned in the District Electoral Council’s report. Copies of the minutes on the voting results per district, authenticated by the Chairperson of the District Electoral Council, must be given to the persons authorized to assist in the electoral operations.

(4) The electoral council shall hand over the minutes on the voting results on the district level to the Central Electoral Commission within 48 hours after the closing of the polling stations. Along with the presentation of the minutes to the Central Electoral Commission, the District Electoral Council shall display, at the entrance of its premises, detailed information on the election results per district.

(5) In local elections and local referendums, the District Electoral Council shall approve, by decision, the minutes of the local election results in the concerned electoral district, confirm or deny their legality. In the event of confirmation of the of the elections legality, the Councils declares the elected candidates, allocates and validates the mandates of elected Mayors and elected councillors, confirms the list of alternate candidates, by adopting decisions to that effect. The above mentioned acts and the electoral documents relating to the tabulation of voting results shall be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission, in accordance with terms and procedure laid down in Titles V and VI.