Procedure of Creation of Polling Station Commissions at Regular or Special Polling Stations
1. A polling station commission shall be created by the respective district election commission no later than 35 days before Election Day. It shall comprise a head, deputy head, a secretary, and other commission members.
2. A polling station commission shall comprise:
1) for small polling stations — 10-18 individuals;
2) for medium polling stations — 14-20 individuals;
3) for large polling stations — 18-24 individuals.
3. At polling stations where the number of voters does not exceed 50 individuals, a polling station commission may comprise a head, secretary and 2-4 commission members.
4. Parties (blocs) that in the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine have their party factions (bloc factions) as of 15 September of the year preceding the election year, as well as other parties (blocs) that are subjects of the election process shall have the right to nominate members of polling station commissions. An authorized representative of a party (bloc) in the respective territorial election district or all-national constituency shall file this submission.
5. A polling station commission of a regular or a special polling station, except for cases stipulated by paragraph 12 of this Law, must comprise, upon availability of respective submissions, of one representative from a party (bloc) that have their party factions (bloc factions) in the current composition of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as of 15 September of the year preceding the election year. No more than one representative from each party (bloc) that are subjects of the election process shall be included into a polling station commission by casting lot by a district election commission no later than on the 3rd day after expiration of the time period for submissions stipulated by paragraph 6 of this Article. Nominees to the membership of a polling station commission may be rejected only because of their failure to comply with requirements stipulated by Article 26 of this Law or because of the mechanism of casting lot stipulated by this paragraph, as well as because of violation of requirements for submissions as stipulated by paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article.
6. An authorized representative of a party (bloc) in the respective territorial district or all-national constituency no later than 45 days before Election Day shall file the list of nominees from a party (bloc) who are members of such party (parties constituting a bloc) or non-affiliated individuals (no more than one candidate per one election commission) in hard copy form and electronic form to a respective district election commission for including them into respective polling station commissions. This submission shall contain indication of individuals nominated for a head, deputy head, and a secretary of a commission. This submission should be signed by a head of the respective party branch (heads of branches of a party constituting a bloc) and sealed with a seal of the respective party branch (seals of respective branch of a party constituting a bloc).
7. Submissions of candidates for polling station commission members shall contain information stipulated by paragraph 5 of Article 27 of this Law. A submission shall be accompanied with acts of individuals nominated for polling station commission members, on their consent to take part in commission’s work on behalf of the respective party (bloc).
8. In case when no submissions for the membership of a polling station commission are received in the period stipulated by paragraph 6 of this Article or the number of nominees for polling station commission members is less than the minimum number stipulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, a district election commission shall create a polling station commission upon submission of district election commission’s head in the count of minimum number stipulated by paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article with mandatory consideration of nominees by parties (blocs) stipulated by paragraph 4 of this Article.
9. Technical errors or inaccuracies in submissions shall not be the basis for rejection of nominated candidates. Upon discovery of such errors and inaccuracies a district election commission shall immediately inform a representative from the respective party (bloc) in the territorial election district about them. These errors and inaccuracies may be corrected through an amended submission on respective candidates no later than on the next day upon receipt of the indicated information. If an amended submission shall not be received in the specified period, the respective candidates shall be rejected.
10. Each party (bloc) that has members in polling station commissions shall have the right for a proportional share of each category of management positions in polling station commissions at each small, medium, and large polling station within boundaries of the territorial election district, and this share depends on the number of candidates nominated by the respective parties (blocs) included into polling station commissions. Share of management positions reserved for each party (bloc) in each category of polling stations within boundaries of the territorial election district shall be determined by the number of nominees from a party (bloc) included into membership of each category of polling station commissions and the overall number of individuals included into membership of each category of polling station commissions from parties (blocs). An individual included into a polling station commission upon submission of a district election commission head may not hold a management position in the election commission except in cases when submissions from parties (blocs) for membership in a respective election commission were not received or the number of nominees was less than the required number. The procedure of management positions distribution between parties (blocs) according to shares stipulated by this Law shall be determined by the Central Election Commission.
11. A head, deputy head and a secretary of a polling station commission may not represent the same party (bloc) that is the subject of the election process.
12. A polling station commission of a special polling station established on a vessel navigating under the State Flag of Ukraine on Election Day, on a polar station of Ukraine, shall be established by a district election commission at the place of registration of a vessel, a polar station of Ukraine upon submission of, respectively, a captain of the vessel or head of a polar station of Ukraine, which may be sent by technical communication means in the time period stipulated by paragraph 6 of this Article.
13. If a special polling station is created as an exception in accordance with paragraph 7 of Article 21 of this Law, a polling station commission shall be established by the Central Election Commission simultaneously with creation of a polling station upon submission of a district election commission.
14. A district election commission shall inform authorized representatives of all parties (blocs) in the respective territorial election district on preparation of submission to the Central Election Commission for creation of the special polling station as an exception and propose that they nominate candidates for polling station commission members under the procedure stipulated by this Article, within time periods specified by the district election commission but no later than 5 days after the notice.
15. A decision on creation of a polling station commission shall be published in regional and local printed media or, if it is impossible, shall be made public by other means no later than on the 5th day after passing of the decision. A decision on creation of a polling station commission of the special polling station created as an exception, and a decision on changes in composition of polling station commissions shall be published or promulgated under the procedure and in the time periods stipulated by this paragraph but no later than on the last day before Election Day.
