Procedure of Creation of a Polling Station Commission in a Polling Station Abroad
1. A polling station commission of a polling station abroad shall be created by the Central Election Commission no later than 35 days before Election Day; it shall comprise a head, deputy head, secretary, and other commission members. A numeric composition of a polling station commission of a polling station abroad shall be determined according to paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 28 of this Law.
2. A polling station commission of a polling station abroad may comprise voters residing or staying on the territory of the respective foreign state during preparation to and conduct of elections.
3. 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, other parties (blocs) that are subjects of the election process as well as Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine shall have the right to nominate members of polling station commissions of polling stations abroad.
4. Central management body of a party (management body of a bloc) shall file a list of nominees form a party (bloc) who are party members (members of parties constituting a bloc) or non-affiliated individuals (one candidate per one election commission) to the Central Election Commission to be included into the respective polling station commissions of polling stations abroad no later than 45 days before Election Day. The submission shall indicate proposed nominees for a head, deputy head, and a secretary of a commission. The submission shall be singed by a head of party (heads of parties constituting a bloc) and sealed with a party seal (seals of parties constituting a bloc).
5. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs shall include into a submission, filed within terms specified in paragraph 4 of this Article, employees of diplomatic or other official representative offices of Ukraine abroad, servicemen of military unites (formations) deployed outside of Ukraine, or other citizens of Ukraine that have the right of vote and reside or stay in the period of preparation and conduct of elections on the territory of the respective foreign state, in the quantity no less than the minimum number and no more than the average numerical strength of polling station commission members as stipulated by paragraphs 2 or 3 of Article 28 of this Law.
6. A submission of nominees to polling station commission members shall contain information stipulated by paragraph 5 of Article 27 of this Law. Nomination should be accompanied with acts of individuals nominated to be polling station commission members, on their consent to take part in a commission’s work on behalf of the respective party (bloc) or upon submission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
7. A polling station commission of a polling station abroad shall comprise (if there are respective submissions) no more than one representative from each party (bloc) that are subjects of nomination of candidates. This shall be done in compliance with paragraph 5 of Article 28 of this Law.
8. A polling station commission of a polling station abroad shall include, in compliance with paragraphs 2 and 6 of this Article and Article 26 of this Law, candidates nominated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in such quantity that the numerical strength of an election commission comply with requirements of paragraphs 2 or 3 of Article 28 of this Law.
9. Only incompliance with requirements stipulated by paragraph 26 of this Law and also by paragraphs 2 and 6 of this Article or because of the mechanism of casting lot stipulated by paragraph 5 of Article 28 of this Law can serve as the grounds for rejection of nominated candidates.
10. Technical errors or inaccuracies in submissions of parties (blocs) shall not serve as the grounds for rejection of nominated candidates. Upon discovery of such errors and inaccuracies the Central Election Commission shall immediately inform a representative from the respective party (bloc) in the Central Election Commission 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.
11. Each party (bloc) shall have the right for a proportional share of management positions in each category of polling station commissions in small, medium, and large polling stations separately within boundaries of the foreign election district, and this share is defined based on the number of candidates nominated by respective parties (blocs) included into election commissions. A share of management positions for each party (bloc) in each category of polling stations within boundaries of the foreign election district shall be determined by the number of nominees from a party (bloc) included into election commissions of each category of polling stations and the overall number of individuals included into polling station commissions of the respective category of election commissions on behalf of parties (blocs). The procedure of management positions’ distribution between parties (blocs) according to shares stipulated by this paragraph shall be determined by the Central Election Commission.
12. An individual included into a polling station commission by submission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs may be appointed to a management position in the election commission only if there are no other nominees for this position from parties (blocs).
13. If a polling station abroad is established as an exception in accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 22 of this Law, a polling station commission shall be created by the Central Election Commission simultaneously with creation of a polling station abroad upon submission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. This submission shall be made in compliance with paragraphs 2 and 6 of this Article, as well as Article 26 and paragraph 14 of Article 28 of this Law simultaneously with submission on creation of a polling station.
14. Decision on creation of polling station commissions of polling stations abroad and on their composition passed in accordance with requirements of this Law shall be published by the Central Election Commission within three days after adoption of the respective decision in state mass media. A decision on creation of a polling station commission of a polling station abroad, established as an exception in accordance with paragraph 8 of Article 22 of this Law shall be published under the same procedure and within the same time limits but no later than five days before Election Day. Respective official representations and consular institutions of Ukraine shall, taking into account local conditions of the respective foreign state, publish information on location, postal address and working hours of polling station commissions established at diplomatic and other official representative offices and consular institutions of Ukraine abroad, including those located outside of official representative offices and consular institutions of Ukraine, at military units (formations), deployed outside of Ukraine.
