(1) In the application of the rules on vote counting and on drawing up the minutes, for each national minority, the national minority’s settlement, regional and national elections shall be handled separately.

(2) With the exception set out in paragraph (3), ballot papers in an unsealed envelope and ballot papers found outside an envelope shall be invalid.

(3) In a settlement with a single polling district a ballot paper in an unsealed envelope and a ballot paper found outside an envelope shall not be invalid provided that it is to be counted by the local election commission under section 327 (1).

(4) In a settlement with multiple polling districts, the local election commission or the regional election commission shall count the votes within three days following voting.