Council of Europe - Venice Commission

UKRAINE - Election Code

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Article 250

Procedure for Vote Counting at an Election Precinct

1. The final meeting of a precinct election commission shall take place immediately after the end of voting at the election precinct and shall be held in the same premises where the voting was held. The final meeting of a precinct election commission shall continue without interruption and shall end when the vote counting protocols of the election precinct have been drawn up and signed.

2. The vote counting at an election precinct shall be organized in the following order:

1) vote counting in the election of the President of Ukraine, the election of MPs of Ukraine or in the all-Ukrainian referendum (in the event of holding the local election concurrently with the election of the President of Ukraine, the election of Members of Parliament of Ukraine or in the all-Ukrainian referendum);

2) vote counting in the election of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea or an oblast council;

3) vote counting in the election of a rayon council;

4) vote counting in the election of city mayor;

5) vote counting in the election of city council;

6) vote counting in the election of city mayor of a city which is a part of another city, in accordance with the administrative and territorial organization;

7) vote counting in the election of a city rayon council, the city council of a city which is a part of another city, in accordance with the administrative and territorial organization;

8) vote counting in the election of a village or settlement mayor;

9) vote counting in the election of a village or settlement council.

The counting of votes from each local election shall be completed by drawing up a protocol on the counting of votes at the polling station from the respective local elections in accordance with the procedure specified in Article 251 of this Code.

During the vote-counting in each local election, the ballot papers related to the local election, the vote counting for which has not been performed yet, shall be placed in ballot boxes, which shall be kept within plain sight of the precinct election commission members.

The packages with the protocols and other election documents relating to the elections, the counting of which has already been completed, shall be kept in the premises of the precinct election commission until the end of the precinct election commission meeting, in the field of view of precinct election commission members and persons present at the commission meeting. Packages with election documents shall be transported in accordance with the procedure established by Article 253 of this Code to the territorial election commission, which establishes the results of the voting, and in cases provided by this Code - to the territorial election commission, which establishes election results, immediately after counting and drawing up relevant protocols for all local elections organized by the relevant polling station election commission.

3. At its final meeting, a precinct election commission shall, by its decision, assign the keeping of the minutes, accordingly, to the deputy head of the precinct election commission or to some other member of the precinct election commission. At that meeting, the secretary of the precinct election commission shall enter data in the protocols on vote counting at the election precinct.

4. In the event, if during the conduct of the voting, a precinct election commission received applications or complaints relating to violations that occurred during the conduct of the voting at an election precinct, a precinct election commission shall consider them at the beginning of its meeting, prior to the vote counting at the election precinct.

5. Vote counting at an election precinct shall be conducted openly and transparently, exclusively by members of the precinct election commission. Vote counting at the election precinct shall be performed in accordance with the sequence specified in the provisions of this Article and in the manner prescribed by the Central Election Commission.

6. A precinct election commission shall pack the processed election documents in packages. A package with election documents shall be sealed, and an inscription shall be made on a package, with an indication of the number and type of the packaged documents. The name of the local election, indication and/or a number of the election district, the number of an election precinct, the number of packaged ballot papers, and the date and time of packaging shall also be noted. The package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

7. Each member of the precinct election commission, responsible for the work with the voter lists, shall count and put on each sheet of the voter lists received by him or her the following information, separately for each sheet of the voter lists:

1) the number of voters included in the voter list at the election precinct (as of the end of voting);

2) the number of voters who received ballots (signed by voters and marked "voted at the place of residence" in the voter list).

8. A voter list at the election precinct, after the end of voting, in the event if any additions have been made thereto, shall be closed by crossing out empty fields in the voter lists so as to make the addition of additional voters to the voter list impossible, and shall be signed by the head and secretary of the precinct election commission and affixed with the commission’s seal.

9. A precinct election commission shall, on the basis of a voter list (comparing the voter list and an excerpt from the voter list), establish the number of voters at the election precinct. This number shall be announced and entered by the secretary of the election commission (the secretary of the meeting) in the protocol on vote counting at an election precinct in all local elections.

10. A precinct election commission shall count unused ballot papers. A number of such ballot papers shall be announced and entered by the secretary of the commission in the protocol on the vote counting at the election precinct. The unused ballot papers shall be invalidated by cutting off the bottom right corner of the ballot papers. The invalidated unused ballot papers, together with the ballot papers spoilt, while the voters were filling them out, and returned to the precinct election commission members who issued them, shall be packed. The inscription “Unused ballot papers” shall be made on the packages, with an indication of the name of the local election, indication and/or number of the election district, the number of election precinct, number of packaged ballots, date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the precinct election commission’s seal.

11. A precinct election commission shall count the number of voters who received ballot papers for voting in the respective local elections, based on the voters’ signatures in the voter list and marks “voted at the place of stay” in the voter list. That number shall be announced.

12. A precinct election commission shall sum up the number of the counterfoils of the ballot papers, with signatures of voters and election commission members who issued them, separately for each local election and for each election district, in which the voting was held at the election precinct. The number of such counterfoils shall be announced.

13. If there is no mismatch between the number of counterfoils specified in Part twelve of this Article, and the number indicated in Part eleven of this Article, the secretary of the election commission shall announce this number and enter this number in the protocol on vote counting at the election precinct as the number of voters who received ballot papers at the election precinct.

If there is a discrepancy between the number of counterfoils specified in Part twelve of this Article, and the number specified in Part eleven of this Article, the precinct election commission shall write a report thereon, stating the reason for such discrepancy established by the commission’s decision, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present. The signatures shall be affixed with the election commission’s seal. The aforementioned report may be signed by the candidates for local council present, candidates for a village, settlement or city mayor, candidates’ authorized persons, party organization’s authorized representatives, and official observers. After that, the election commission shall take a decision establishing the number of voters who received the ballot papers for voting in the respective elections. That number shall be announced and entered in the vote-counting protocols of the election precinct.

14. The voter list, along with the excerpt from the voter list created pursuant to Parts two and three of Article 249 of this Code; the applications of voters based on which the excerpt was compiled; court judgments on making changes to the voter list; notifications from the State Voter Register maintenance body shall be packed in one package. The inscription “Voter List” shall be made on the package, with an indication of the name of the local election, indication and/or a number of the election district, the number of election precinct, date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the precinct election commission’s seal.

15. The counterfoils of the issued ballot papers for voting in each local election shall be packed in separate packages. The inscription “Counterfoils of ballot papers” shall be made on the packages, with an indication of the name of the local election, indication and/or a number of the election district, the number of election precinct, the number of packed counterfoils, date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

16. A precinct election commission for each local election shall check if the number of unused ballots and the number of voters that received ballot papers are equal to the number of ballot papers received by the precinct election commission. In the event of a discrepancy between those numbers, the precinct election commission shall draw up a report thereon, stating the reason for such discrepancy established by the precinct election commission’s decision, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present. The signatures shall be affixed with the commission’s seal. The aforementioned report may be signed by candidates for local council present, candidates for a village, settlement or city mayor, candidates’ authorized persons, party organization’s authorized representatives, and official observers.

17. The precinct election commission shall check the integrity of the sealing tape or seal on each ballot box.

18. If the precinct election commission discovers damage to the tape or seal, or any other damage that indicates that the integrity of ballot box has been violated, the precinct election commission shall write a report thereon, stating the nature of the discovered damage, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present. The signatures shall be affixed with the commission’s seal. The aforementioned report may be signed by candidates for local council present, candidate for a village, settlement or city mayor, candidates’ authorized persons, party organization’s authorized representatives, and official observers.

19. The precinct election commission shall open the ballot boxes one by one. The first ballot boxes to be opened shall be the mobile ones that were used for voting outside the voting premises, and the last ballot boxes to be opened shall be the ones with damaged seals or sealing tape, or with other damage revealed during the voting (if there are any such boxes).

20. When an undamaged ballot box is opened, its contents shall be emptied on the table at which the precinct election commission members are sitting. The presence of a control sheet in the ballot box (or, in case of a mobile ballot box, of the control sheets) shall also be checked.

21. The ballot papers from a damaged ballot box shall be taken out one by one without mixing them. The precinct election commission shall count the numbers of ballot papers for voting in each local election contained in such ballot box, and check the presence of a control sheet, which shall be taken out of the ballot box last.

22. If there is no control sheet in the ballot box, the precinct election commission shall draw up a report on the absence of the control sheet in the ballot box in accordance with the procedure specified by Part six of Article 37 of this Code, in which the number of ballot papers for voting in each local election contained in the ballot box shall be indicated. The aforementioned ballot papers shall be considered as those that are not subject to counting during the establishment of the total number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote-counting in the respective local election.

23. If there are more ballot papers in the mobile ballot box than the number of voters included in the excerpt from the voter list in the election precinct, the precinct election commission shall draw up a report in accordance with the procedure specified by Part six of Article 37 of this Code on such a discrepancy, in which the number of ballot papers contained in this ballot box shall be indicated. The aforementioned ballot papers shall not be subject to counting during the establishment of the total number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote counting.

24. If the members of the commission have doubts as to the authenticity of a control sheet, or in other doubtful situations, the precinct election commission shall adopt, by voting, a decision recognizing the ballot papers contained in the ballot box as ones that shall not be subject to counting during the establishment of the total number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote counting.

25. If indication (number) of the election district and/or the number of the election precinct indicated on the ballot paper do not correspond to indication (number) of the respective election district and/or the number of the election precinct, at which the vote-counting is being performed, such ballot papers shall not be subject to counting during the establishment of the total number of voters who took part in the voting and in the vote counting.

26. The number of ballots papers that are not subject to counting shall be announced and entered in the protocol on the counting of votes. Non-accountable ballots are packed. The inscription “Ballot papers not subject to counting” shall be made on the package, with an indication of the name of the local election, indication and/or a number of the election district, the number of the election precinct, the number of packed ballot papers, the date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

27. Ballot papers for voting in each local election and each election district shall be separated from each other. The election commission shall count the total number of ballot papers separately for each local election and for each election district, except for ballot papers that are not subject to counting.

When counting ballot papers, a member of the precinct election commission, appointed by a decision of the commission, shall count the ballot papers aloud. All items found in the ballot boxes other than the ballot papers of the approved form shall be placed separately and not counted. In case of doubt as to whether an item is a ballot paper, the precinct election commission shall adopt a decision thereon by voting. Each member of the election commission shall have the right to personally examine such items. The counting of ballot papers shall be suspended while such items are being examined. Any items that are not deemed to be ballot papers shall be packed in one package. Control sheets shall also be deemed as such items. The inscription “Items” shall be made on the package, with an indication of the name of the local election, indication and/or the number of the election district, the number of the election precinct, the date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal. The number established as a result of the above shall be considered the number of voters that took part in voting. The secretary of the election commission shall announce this number and enter it into the protocol on vote counting at the election precinct in the respective local election.

28. When counting ballot papers for the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast, rayon, rayon in the city, as well as city, village, settlement council (territorial community with 10,000 or more voters) ballots are laid out in places marked with separate plates, containing on both sides the name of the party organization or the inscription "Invalid."

When counting ballot papers for elections of members of city, village, settlement council (a territorial community with up to 10,000 voters), village, settlement, city mayor, ballots are laid out in places marked with separate plates containing the name of the candidate on both sides, registered in the relevant multi-member district or, accordingly, the name of the candidate for the position of the village, settlement, city mayor, and for each of these types of elections - with the inscription "Invalid."

When unfolding ballots, a member of the commission appointed by the election commission shall show each ballot paper to all members of the commission, announcing the result of the voter's will. In case of doubt about the content of the ballot paper, the election commission shall resolve the issue by voting. In this case, each member of the commission has the right to personally inspect the ballot. At the time of the ballot review, work with other ballots shall be suspended.

29. A ballot paper shall be deemed invalid if:

1) in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast, rayon, rayon in the city, as well as city, village, settlement council (a territorial community with 10,000 or more voters):

a) it bears no seal of the respective precinct election commission;

b) which have not been amended in accordance with part thirteen of Article 242 of this Code or amended without a decision of the election commission of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast, rayon, rayon in the city, as well as city, village, settlement election commission (a territorial community with 10,000 or more voters) or the changes made do not correspond to the decision of the election commission of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast, city (a territorial community with 10,000 or more voters) election commission;

c) if the ballot paper has marks opposite the name of several party organizations;

d) no mark has been placed next to the full name of the party organization;

e) the counterfoil of the ballot paper has not been separated therefrom;

f) it is impossible to identify the result of the expression of the voter’s will with regard to his or her support of the electoral list of a certain party organization for any other reason;

2) in the election of a city, village, settlement council (a territorial community with up to 10,000 voters) or city mayor:

a) it bears no seal of the respective precinct election commission;

b) it has not been amended as required by Part thirteen of Article 242 of this Code, or it has been amended without a decision by the rayon, city, city rayon or settlement election commission, or amended in a way that fails to comply with such a decision;

c) it bears no mark;

d) it bears more than one mark opposite the names of candidates;

e) the counterfoil of the ballot paper has not been separated therefrom;

f) it is impossible to identify the result of the expression of the voter’s will for any other reason.

If in the ballot paper on elections of members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast, rayon, rayon in the city councils, and also members of city, village, settlement councils (territorial communities with 10,000 or more voters) after the words "From the party organization, for which I voted (voted), I support the candidate " voter put a non-existent serial number of the candidate in the territorial electoral list or another mark, such a vote is considered to support the entire territorial electoral list of the relevant local party organization, which is marked.

If any members of the election commission have doubts about the validity of a ballot paper in the case provided for by subclause f of clause one and subclause f of clause two of this Part, the precinct election commission shall resolve the doubt by voting. Each member of the election commission shall be allowed to personally examine the ballot paper in question. During the examination of the ballot paper, the counting of other ballot papers shall be suspended.

30. Invalid ballot papers shall be counted separately. The secretary of the election commission shall announce this number and enter it into the protocol on vote counting at the election precinct. The invalid ballot papers shall be packed together. The inscription “Invalid ballot papers” shall be made on the package, with an indication of the name of the local election, indication and/or a number of the election district, the number of the election precinct number, the number of packed ballot papers, the date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

31. The precinct election commission shall count the number of votes cast for territorial electoral lists of the party organizations in the election of members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblast, rayon, rayon in the city councils, aa well as for members of city, village, settlement councils (territorial communities with 10,000 or more voters) council. During the vote counting, each member of the commission shall be allowed to examine or re-count the respective ballot papers. The results of counting votes of voters who received regional electoral lists of each party organization and all the party organizations at the election precinct shall be announced and entered, respectively, in the protocol on vote counting at the election precinct by the secretary of the election commission.

32. When counting votes at an election precinct, the precinct election commission shall check whether the number of voters who took part in the voting at the precinct is equal to the sum of the numbers of invalid ballot papers at the election precinct and ballot papers with votes cast for territorial electoral lists of all party organizations. In case of data discrepancy, the precinct election commission shall draw up the report, stating the reason for such discrepancy established by the precinct election commission’s decision, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present. The signatures shall be affixed with the election commission’s seal. The aforementioned report may be signed by the candidates present, their authorized persons, the party organization’s authorized persons, and official observers.

33. A precinct election commission shall, one by one, process the ballot papers with votes of the voters who supported the territorial electoral list of the respective party organization, in order to establish the number of votes cast in support of each candidate included in such electoral list. With this purpose, the ballot papers with votes of the voters who supported the territorial electoral list of the respective party organization shall be put in places marked by special plates containing, on both sides, the ordinal numbers of candidates in accordance with the territorial electoral list of candidates from this party organization, as well the inscription “Supported the entire list.”

34. A precinct election commission shall count the number of voters who supported each of the candidates for local council included in the territorial electoral list of the respective party organization, as well as the number of votes of voters who supported the entire regional electoral list of candidates for local council from the respective party organization, without supporting an individual candidate from that list. During the vote counting, each member of the precinct election commission shall be entitled to check or re-count the relevant ballot papers.

If the election commission members have doubts as to the content of a ballot paper, the election commission shall resolve the doubts by voting. Before voting, each member of the election commission shall have the right to personally examine the ballot paper. For the time of examination of the ballot paper, the work with the other ballot papers shall be suspended. The results of the voting shall be recorded in the minutes of the precinct election commission meeting.

35. The results of counting votes in the form of the number of votes of voters who supported each individual candidate included in the territorial electoral list of the respective party organization, and the number of votes of voters who supported the entire territorial electoral list of the respective party organization without supporting an individual candidate shall be announced by the head of the election commission and entered by the secretary of the election commission into the protocol of the vote counting at the election precinct.

36. After processing the ballots with the votes of voters who supported the territorial electoral list of the respective party organization, the precinct election commission shall check whether the number of votes of voters who supported the territorial electoral list of this party organization is equal to the number of votes of voters who supported candidates included in the territorial electoral list of this party organization and the number of votes of voters who supported the entire territorial electoral list from this party organization without supporting a single candidate from this list. In case of inconsistency of these data, the polling station election commission may recount the ballots. Upon confirmation of this discrepancy, the polling station election commission shall draw up an act in the form established by the Central Election Commission and in accordance with the procedure provided for in part six of Article 37 of this Code, indicating the reasons for such discrepancy established by the decision of the precinct polling station election commission.

37. Ballots with the votes cast for each of the candidates included in the territorial electoral list of each party organization are packed in packages. The package shall indicate the name of the local elections, the number of the territorial district, the number of the election precinct, the name of the party organization, the name of the candidate and his serial number in the territorial electoral list of the party organization, the number of packed ballots, the date and time of packing; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

38. Ballot papers with the votes cast for the entire territorial electoral list from the party organization without supporting a single candidate are packed in a package. The package shall indicate the name of the local elections, the number of the territorial constituency, the number of the polling station, the name of the party organization, the number of packed ballots, the date and time of packing; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

39. Packages with ballot papers specified in Parts 37 and 38 of this Article, containing the votes of voters who supported the territorial electoral list of each party organization, shall be packed in one paper package. The following information shall be indicated on each package: the name of the local election, the number of the territorial election district, the number of the election precinct, the name of a party organization, the number of packaged ballot papers, the date and time of packaging; the package shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.

40. The precinct election commission counts the number of votes cast for each candidate in a multi-member district for the election of city, village, settlement council (a territorial community with up to 10,000 voters), candidate for the position of the village, settlement, city mayor.

If the polling station held voting in more than one district, the district election commission should carry out the actions provided for in this Code and establish the relevant information separately for each multi-member district in which voting took place at the polling station. Relevant information on their establishment shall be entered in the protocol of the polling station election commission on the counting of votes at the polling station in the relevant multi-member constituency. In this case, the polling station election commission shall distribute the ballots to be taken into account according to the multi-member constituencies in which the polling station was held. The establishment of voting results is carried out for each such multi-member district separately in the order of their numbers.

41. When counting votes of voters cast at the election precinct for candidates for local council, candidates for a village, settlement or city mayor, a precinct election commission shall check whether the number of voters who took part in the voting at the election precinct is equal to the sum of the numbers of invalid ballot papers at the election precinct and ballot papers with votes cast for candidates at an election precinct in this election district. In case of data discrepancy, the precinct election commission shall draw up a report, stating the reason for such discrepancy established by the precinct election commission’s decision, which shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present. The signatures shall be affixed with the election commission’s seal. The aforementioned report may be signed by the candidates for local council in the respective multi-member election district present, candidates for a village, settlement or city mayor, their authorized persons, and official observers.

42. Following the counting of votes of voters cast at the election precinct for candidates for local council, candidates for a village, settlement, or city mayor, the ballot papers with votes of voters cast for each candidate shall be packaged separately. The inscriptions shall be made on the packages with an indication of a candidate last name and initials, the name of the election, indication and/or the number of the election district, the number of the election precinct, the number of packaged ballot papers, the date and time of packaging; the packages shall be signed by the precinct election commission members present and affixed with the commission’s seal.