The other part of Act LXXIX of 2024 introduces a number of specific changes, many of which appear to be merely technical and do not warrant any comments by the Venice Commission. The “Justification” of the bill states that those amendments are meant to address problems identified during the 9 June 2024 elections of the members of the European Parliament, local government representatives and mayors, as well as representatives of national minority self-governments. They are based on an initial set of proposals prepared by the National Election Office in response to lessons learned from recent elections.[59] The Office’s President indicated to the rapporteurs that those amendments were aimed at enhancing efficiency and streamlining electoral processes, for instance by stipulating that

-  a candidate may resign from candidacy only until the third day (instead of the second day) before voting day[60] – in order to avoid practical problems related to late withdrawal;

-  in the event of a tie in a single-member constituency election or an election of a mayor or the Capital Mayor, there will be no by-election, but only a repeat of the ballot[61] – in order to ensure that the mandate is filled as soon as possible;

-  any member of a ballot counting committee may request documentation of possible violations occurred in the electoral process[62] – in order to increase transparency and integrity of the process;

-  lower-level election commissions may hold meetings online, provided this is properly publicised[61] – in order to ensure the quorum, if necessary;

-  it is no longer necessary for voters to present proof of their address when voting, by presenting an address card, in addition to proving their identity by presenting an identity card, passport or driving license[62] – in order to facilitate the exercise of voters’ rights;

-  the use of envelopes for the ballot paper is no longer compulsory (except in certain cases such as postal voting or voting at a foreign representation), but will still be provided to the voter upon request[63] – in order to render the voting and counting process more efficient;

-  the time limit for decisions by the Constitutional Court on complaints against court decisions in electoral matters is prolonged from 3 days to 5 days[64] – allowing the Constitutional Court to assess the issue in more detail and collect additional evidence if required;

-  in a single-member constituency election or an election of a mayor or the Capital Mayor, vote recounts can be requested by the candidate with the second-most votes even in the absence of legal violations, provided the margin of victory is less than 0.5 per cent of total votes or 101 votes in parliamentary elections[65] – in order to facilitate recounts;

-  competences of local election commissions to recount votes are expanded, in particular in parliamentary elections[66] – in order to render the process more efficient.