Out-of-country voting procedure

(amended by Law No. 101/2020, dated 23 July 2020)

1. Regardless of the voting procedure, manual or electronic, the out-of-country voters’ ballots shall be administered by the CEC, safeguarding the voting integrity and secrecy of vote from any tempering with the ballot papers or with the electronic voting information it administers.

2. Out-of-country voting shall be considered open from the day the CEC starts the procedures of sending out the voting documentation or the instruction document addressed to out-of-country voters, as applicable. Out-of-country voting shall be closed on the voting day at the time determined by this law to close voting in voting centres. Upon closing the out-of-country voting, the CEC may not accept and count any ballot arriving afterwards. If the out-of-country voting is carried out electronically, the electronic voting system shall be closed at the time determined by this law to close voting in voting centres.

3. Rules on the administration of the election material or the voting information recorded and stored in information technology systems concerning out-of-country voting and pre-election testing and post-election system verification shall be part of the general rules the CEC approves on the administration of the election material or on the use of information technology systems in elections. Legal safeguards on the observation, monitoring, and access to the CEC during the administration of out-of-country ballots and on the testing, verification, and security of election material or information technology systems used for this voting may not be lower as compared to those for in-country voting.