Verification of application documents and nominating petitions

1. For the purpose of verification of the application documents completed by the candidate, the Central Electoral Commission shall determine whether the candidate complies with the requirements laid down in this Code. If necessary, on its own initiative or at the request of a constituency electoral committee or a municipal electoral committee, the Central Electoral
Commission may address the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Justice, the processor of the Register of Legal Entities or other state institutions for provision of the data relevant for the registration of a candidate. Such a request from the Central Electoral Commission must be considered as a matter of extreme urgency and a written reply must be given within seven days, but not later than 32 days before the election.

2. The Central Electoral Commission shall determine the procedure for verifying the voter signatures in the nominating petitions, as well as voter signatures received electronically. Nominating petitions must be verified within ten days of their receipt, but not later than 32 days before polling day. The electoral committee in charge of verification of voter signatures shall count the signatures collected in support of a candidate or a list of candidates provided the signatures meet the requirements laid down in this Code.

3. When examining the application documents and the nominating petitions, the electoral committee shall determine whether the candidate and/or the list of candidates complies with the requirements laid down in this Code.

4. The signatures of the following persons shall not be taken into account:

1) persons not entitled to vote;

2) voters not entered on the electoral roll of the relevant constituency;

3) persons having provided incomplete data under this Code;

4) persons having provided incorrect data;

5) all signatures of a voter who has signed several times in support of the same candidate and/or list of candidates;

6) voters prevented from entering the data by disability or other reasons.

5. If the application documents submitted under the requirements of this Code are incomplete or defective, the Central Electoral Commission must immediately notify the relevant election representative, set a term for remedying the deficiencies, and ensure that the term expires not later than 65 days before polling day.

6. The constituency electoral committee or the municipal electoral committee shall advise the Central Electoral Commission to register the candidate and/or the list of candidates provided the signature threshold set out in this Code is reached via the nominating petitions even after the signatures unfit for counting are excluded, and provided the application documents of a candidate/list of candidates comply with the requirements laid down in this Code and other legal acts.

7. The constituency electoral committee/municipal electoral committee shall advise the Central Electoral Commission against registering the candidate and/or the list of candidates if it is established that the voter signatures have been forged, the procedure for collecting voter signatures
has been breached, or other requirements laid down in this Code have been violated during the collection of signatures, or if the application documents fail to meet the requirements laid down in this Code and other legal acts.