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Article 76
 

Official Observers from Non-Governmental Organizations

 

1.    Non-governmental organizations, which statutory activities include the election process and observation thereof and are registered under the established procedure at least two years before Election Day, shall have the right to have official observers observing the election process, including the voting, vote calculation and voting tabulation at any polling station and in any territorial election district upon permission of the Central Election Commission.

 

2.    Non-governmental organization that meets the requirements stipulated by paragraph 1 of this Article may apply to the Central Election Commission with request to have official observers during the elections of deputies no later than 90 days prior to Election Day. This application signed by the head of the public organization and sealed with its seal shall have as an attachment a notarized copy of the public organization’s statute as well as a copy of the certificate of state registration of the public organization certified by the issuing body or duly notarized.

 

3.    The Central Election Commission shall pass a decision about granting permission to a public organization to have official observers or about rejection to grant such a permission no later than on the tenth day of the receipt of the application and informs about this the public organization on the next day after passage of the respective decision. The only grounds for refusal may be violation by a non-governmental organization of requirements stipulated by paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article. A copy of the decision on granting permission to a non-governmental organization to have official observers or on rejection to grant such permission shall be given to the authorized representative of the public organization no later than on the next day after passage of the respective decision. A non-governmental organization shall have the right to appeal in a court the decision on rejection to grant it the permission to have official observers.

 

4.    The Central Election Commission shall promulgate the list of non-governmental organizations that are permitted to have official observers at the elections of deputies in the Holos Ukrainy and Uryadovyi Kuryer newspapers no later than 70 days before the elections of deputies.

 

5.    Official observers of non-governmental organizations shall be subject to restrictions stipulated by paragraph 1 of Article 75 of this Law.

 

6.    An official observer of a non-governmental organization shall be registered by a district election commission (by the Central Election Commission to observe elections in a foreign election district) upon an application of a non-governmental organization that is permitted to have official observers at the elections signed by the head of the organization and sealed with the organization’s seal.

 

7.    An application for registration of official observers from a non-governmental organization should indicate their last names, first names, and patronymics, citizenship, dates of birth, citizenship, place of residence and address, place of work and position, and contact phone numbers. An application of such an individual with consent to be an official observer on behalf of this non-governmental organization shall be attached to the application.

 

8.    Applications for registration of an observer from a non-governmental organization stipulated by paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article shall be submitted to a respective district election commission (in case of official observers in a foreign election district – to the Central Election Commission) no later than 5 days before Election Day.

 

9.    A respective district election commission (in case of official observers in an election district abroad – the Central Election Commission) shall issue certificates to official observers in a form stipulated by the Central Election Commission no later than on the next day after the application is submitted.

 

10. No more than three official observers from different non-governmental organizations may be present at one time at a meeting of an election commission, at its final meeting, or at a polling station during voting. In the event there are more registered official observers from non-governmental organizations, a district election commission recommends that representatives of non-governmental organizations agree upon division of polling stations between non-governmental organizations to observe.

 

11. An official observer of non-governmental organizations shall have the right to:

 

1)    stay at polling stations during voting, observe actions of commission members at any distance, including during issuance of ballot papers to voters and during vote calculation, without physically impeding on commission members’ activities;

 

2)    take photos and film, take video and audio records without violation of the secrecy of voting;

 

3)    be present during issuance of ballot papers to district election commission members, including issuance of ballot papers for mobile voting, and during conduct of such voting;

 

4)    be present at meetings of polling station commissions and district election commissions of the respective territorial election district in accordance with requirements stipulated by paragraph 10 of this a Article and paragraph 3 of Article 34 of this Law, including during the vote counting at any polling station, and during voting tabulation in a territorial election district;

 

5)    receive copies of protocols on transferring ballot papers, on vote calculation and voting tabulation and of other documents in cases stipulated by this Law.

 

12. An official observer of a non-governmental organization shall be obliged to adhere to restrictions provided by paragraph 8 of Article 75 of this Law.

 

13. An official observer of non-governmental organization shall not be the subject of the election process and shall not have the rights of the subject of the election process.

 

14. In case of gross or repeated violation of requirements of paragraph 12 of this Article by an official observer of a non-governmental organization, a polling station commission may deprive him or her of the right to be present at its meeting. Such a decision may be appealed by an official observer of a non-governmental organization in a superior election commission or in a court under the procedure stipulated by this Law.

 

15. A non-governmental organization shall have the right to recall its official observer filing a petition signed by its head and sealed with the seal of the non-governmental organization to a respective district election commission (and concerning an official observer in a foreign election district – to the Central Election Commission) requesting termination of his or her authority, and submitting documents for registration of another individual as an official observer from the non-governmental organization under the procedure stipulated by this Law.

 

16. An official observer of a non-governmental organization shall have the right to complain to a district election commission (and an official observer in a foreign election district – to the Central Election Commission) at any time with an application on laying down his or her authority. Based on this application, an election commission shall pass a decision on cancellation of registration of the official observer from the non-governmental organization, and a copy of this decision shall be forwarded to the non-governmental organization.