Print UNOFFICIAL TANSLATION
Law of the Kyrgyz Republic
“Concerning the New Version of the Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”
Article 1
The Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic (Journal of the Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, 1999, N. 9, Art. 436) shall be worded as follows:
“The Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic
Governance in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be carried out on the basis of a free will declaration by the people, expressed by means of regularly held democratic elections in accordance with the principles of universal, equal and direct voting rights by secret ballot.
The state shall guarantee the voting rights of citizens, the right to elect and be elected to state and local administration bodies.
I. GENERAL PART
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
VOTING RIGHTS OF CITIZENS
Article 1. Relations Regulated by the Present Code
The present Code shall define the voting rights of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and their guarantees, as well as regulate relations concerning the preparation and conduct of elections of the President, deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh, and deputies of local keneshes.
Article 2. Principles of Citizens’ Participation in Elections
1. Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be held on the basis of universal, equal and direct voting right by secret ballot.
Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be based on citizens’ free and voluntary implementation of their voting rights. Nobody has the right to exert influence on citizens for the purpose of forcing (coercing) them to participate or not participate in elections, as well as on their free expression of will.
2. Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic residing or temporarily being outside of its territory shall have voting rights in accordance with the present Code. Diplomatic and consular organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be obliged to render assistance to citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic in the implementation of their voting rights established by the present Code.
3. During elections in the Kyrgyz Republic, women shall be provided with equal opportunity with men to implement their right to elect and be elected to state and local administration bodies.
Article 3. Universal Suffrage
1. Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic having reached 18 years of age shall have the right to elect, and upon reaching the age established by the Constitution and the present Code, to be elected to state and local administration bodies.
2. Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic shall have the right to elect and be elected regardless of their descent, sex, race, nationality, official and property status, or religion, as well as political and religious beliefs.
3. Citizens, who were recognized by the court as legally incapable or who are being held in places of confinement, shall not have the right to elect and to be elected.
4. Citizens shall not have the right to be elected to state and local administration bodies, whose previous convictions have not been expunged or served in accordance with law.
Article 4. Equal Suffrage
Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic shall participate in elections in the Kyrgyz Republic on equal grounds.
Article 5. Direct Suffrage
Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic shall directly elect their representatives in state and local administration bodies.
Article 6. Voting By Secret Ballot
Voting during elections in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be carried out by secret ballot to exclude the possibility of any control over citizens’ expression of free will.
Article 7. Obligatory and Periodic Nature of Elections
1. The term of office of state and local administration bodies shall be established by the Constitution and laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
2. The election of state and local administration bodies in the Kyrgyz Republic shall be obligatory, and shall be carried out within time periods established by the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the present Code, and laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
3. Elections shall not be held during a state of emergency or martial law introduced on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic or its part.
Article 8. Basic Terminology Used in this Code
In the present Code the following terms shall be used:
campaigning materials – printed, audiovisual and other materials containing signs of election campaigning that are designed for mass distribution and promulgation in the course of an election campaign;
active electoral right of citizens – the right of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic to elect to state and local administration bodies;
charitable activity – voluntary activity associated with the disinterested transfer of property (either for free or on concessionary terms) to citizens or legal entities, including monetary funds, performance of work, or rendering services;
charity organization – noncommercial organization, created in accordance with law, for which the main function is the carrying out of charitable activity in the interests of society as a whole or of certain categories of people;
close relatives - a spouse, parents, children, and siblings;
guarantees of voting rights of citizens – organizational, legal, informational and other means of ensuring the voting rights of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic;
civil servants - citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, who hold state offices and engage in professional activity on a regular basis for monetary compensation at the expense of the state budget in order to exercise authority vested in their office, as well as who bear responsibility for their performance;
personal identification document - a passport (ID card) or a document substituting for it. Documents substituting for a passport shall include the following: a certificate of an officer of active military service, a military identification of an enlisted soldier, and a pension certificate;
an official of a state body or local administration body - a person, who performs functions of a government authority representative permanently, temporarily or upon a special authorization, or who carries out organizational, regulatory and administrative-economic functions in state or local administration bodies;
additional electoral register – a list of voters, compiled by appropriate precinct election commissions after receiving the main electoral register, which is, no later than on the day preceding elections, to be appended with information on voters on the basis of warranted written citizens’ claims regarding the failure to include them into the main electoral register, or on the basis of the existence of data not in compliance with the data reflected in the main electoral register, as well as, on the election day, on the basis of written warranted citizens’ claims regarding the existence of data not corresponding to the data in the main electoral register, as well as upon presenting of an absentee ballot or a court’s ruling;
single electoral district - an electoral district (constituency) including the whole territory of the Kyrgyz Republic;
voters – citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic possessing an active voting right and included into voters’ lists;
electoral documents – voters’ lists (main and additional), a list of early voters, ballots, including valid, invalid, unused (cancelled), mutilated or spoiled (filled out with mistakes), as well as ballots issued to voters for early voting and for voting outside of polling stations, absentee ballots, minutes of election commissions, their decisions on election issues, candidates’ registration documents, summary tables on voting results, acts on the conformity of data with those entered into the electronic system “Shailoo”, as well as lists and diagrams of constituencies and precincts;
election commissions – collegial bodies organizing and providing for preparation and conduct of elections;
citizens’ electoral rights – the right of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic to elect and to be elected to state and local administration bodies, as well as to participate in the nomination of candidates, campaigning, observation of conduct of elections and of work of election commissions, including the establishment of voting results, and of elections outcome, as well as participation in other election actions;
an information program – periodically broadcast TV and radio programs containing information on current events and news;
information support for elections – informing the electorate and campaigning to promote informed voting and openness of elections;
informing the electorate - the activity of state and local administration bodies, election commissions, the mass media, legal entities and physical persons, associated with preparation and spreading of information during the campaigning period, in order to encourage voters to participate in elections, to promote informed voting and openness of elections, except for the information, containing a description of consequences of a candidate’s (lists of candidates’) possible election or failure to be elected, campaigning for a candidate (a list of candidates) or against them, and expressing a preference with regard to a given candidate (a list of candidates), that derogates the honor, dignity and business reputation of candidates and political parties, as well as information from state and local administration bodies concerning candidates (lists of candidates);
a candidate – a person nominated in accordance with the procedure established by the present Code as an aspirant to fill an elected position in a state or local administration body;
an international observer – a person, representing a foreign or an international organization, who obtained the right to carry out observation of the preparation and conduct of elections in the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the procedure established by law;
place of temporary stay – a hotel, sanatorium, recreational facility, guest house, tourist station, hospital, or other similar establishment, or living quarters, which is not a permanent place of a citizen’s residence;
place of residence – a house, an apartment, an official housing, specialized houses (a hostel, elderly people’s house, a boarding house for the disabled, veterans, and others), as well as other residential premises, in which a citizen resides permanently or most of the time as an owner, a tenant under a lease (sublease), rental agreement, or on other grounds stipulated by law of the Kyrgyz Republic;
multi-member electoral district – an electoral district (constituency), in which several deputies are elected whereby the voters vote for each candidate on an individual basis;
municipal servant – a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic holding a municipal position, paid from the account of the local budget, and permanently carrying out professional activity to implement authorized official duties for which he is responsible;
observer – a person appointed by a given candidate, political party, or non-commercial organization to keep a watch on the process of voting, counting of votes, identifying the results of voting, and determination of election results in accordance with the procedure stipulated by the present Code;
a non-commercial organization - an organization created in accordance with law on non-commercial organizations, that participates in elections within the limits established by the present Code;
state bodies – bodies which were formed and carry out state authority in accordance with the Constitution and law of the Kyrgyz Republic;
local administration bodies – elected collegial bodies consisting of deputies of local keneshes, who are elected directly by local communities and are vested with authority to manage issues of local significance;
main electoral register – a list of voters, which is compiled by a system administrator exclusively on the basis of written information received from the bodies for citizens’ registration (counting), and is signed and submitted to the relevant election commissions by heads of local administrations, heads of local state administrations, city mayors, and commanders of military units within the time periods established by the present Code;
passive electoral right – the right of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic to be elected to state and local administration bodies;
permanent place of residence – a place of a citizen’s residence on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic certified by a registration stamp from the bodies of citizens registration in a personal identification document;
law-enforcement bodies – the internal affairs organization, national security bodies, financial police, public prosecution, customs services, and justice, as well as drug use control bodies;
election campaigning – the activity of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, candidates, their authorized representatives and trusted persons, as well as political parties, associated with preparation and spreading of information during the campaigning period, that is designed to encourage or encouraging voters to vote for one candidate or another (lists of candidates) or against them;
a candidate’s representative – a member of an election commission who possesses the right to an advisory vote, a trusted person, or an observer representing a registered candidate;
a political party representative – a member of an election commission who possesses the right to an advisory vote, a trusted person, or an observer representing a given political party having nominated a list of candidates;
prevailing place of residence – a place of residence of a citizen who resides outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, that is connected with his work, scientific, official or other activity;
system administrator – a specialist ensuring the operation of the complex of the “Shailoo” electronic information system in a given election commission;
a list of early voters – a list of voters compiled by the relevant territorial (okrug) election commissions 9 – 1 days prior to a given election day, in which data is included on voters having voted early on the basis of a warranted written application and submission of the relevant documents, established by the present Code;
list of candidates – a unified list of candidates nominated by a given political party in elections under the proportional system, which is registered by a given election commission.
Chapter II
ELECTION COMMISSIONS
Article 9. The System of Election Commissions
1. Election commissions shall administer the preparation and conduct of elections in the Kyrgyz Republic and provide for the implementation and protection of voting rights of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic.
2. The following shall form the unified system of election commissions of the Kyrgyz Republic:
1) The Central Commission for Elections and Conduct of Referendums in the Kyrgyz Republic (hereinafter – the Central Election Commission);
2) oblast, Bishkek and Osh city commissions for elections and conduct of referendums (hereinafter – oblast, Bishkek, and Osh city election commissions);
3) district and city election commissions;
4) precinct election commissions.
3. The legal status of election commissions shall be established by the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Law on the Central Election Commission, the present Code and election legislation.
4. Within the limits of their authority election commissions shall be independent from the state and local administration bodies in the course of preparation and conduct of elections. Any interference in the activity of election commissions by state and local administration bodies, non-commercial organizations, political parties, and other legal entities, their officials, as well as individual citizens shall be strictly prohibited during preparation and conduct of elections.
5. Election commissions’ decisions and acts, adopted within the limits of their authority, shall be obligatory for state bodies, state agencies, local administration bodies, non-commercial organizations, other legal entities, their officials, candidates, political parties, voters, as well as subordinate election commissions.
6. A decision of an election commission that contradicts the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the present Code, or legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, or that was adopted in excess of the established authority, shall be subject to cancellation by the superior election commission or the court.
7. State and local administration bodies, state and municipal agencies and establishments, as well as their officials, shall be obliged to render assistance to election commissions in the exercise of their authority, and in particular, to provide them with necessary premises, transport, means of communication, technical equipment, information and materials, responding to election commissions’ requests associated with the preparation and conduct of elections within two calendar days in the course of preparation for elections, and immediately on the day of voting or the following day.
8. Election commissions shall have the right to apply for assistance from political parties, non-commercial organizations, other legal entities, the mass media, as well as their officials, with regard to provision of necessary information and materials, associated with the preparation and conduct of elections, within the timeframes established by the present Code and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 10. Authority of the Central Election Commission
1. The Central Election Commission shall:
1) carry out supervision of the implementation of the citizens’ voting rights on the territory of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, implementation of the provisions of the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic, the present Code, and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as provide for their uniform application;
2) organize the preparation and conduct of elections, and manage the activity of election commissions;
3) issue, within the limits of its authority, decrees, instructions, regulations, other acts, which follow from and don’t contradict the present Code and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, and supervise their implementation;
4) render legal, methodological, organizational and technical assistance to lower-level election commissions;
5) act as a territorial (okrug) election commission for presidential elections;
6) act as a territorial (okrug) election commission for election of deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh;
7) form oblast, Bishkek and Osh city commissions for elections of deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh;
8) distribute the funds from the national budget allocated for the financial support for preparation and conduct of elections, the activity of election commissions and exercising their authority, including payment for their use of premises, transport, communication, and other expenses, as well as administer other issues of financial and technical provision for elections;
9) set up a special fund and use the funds received to conduct elections, develop the electoral system, and support the activity of election commissions;
10) establish the accounting procedures for the receiving and spending of budget funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections, candidates’ and political parties’ election funds, and of the special fund, as well as exercise supervision of the designated use of those funds;
11) establish the financial statement forms for election commissions concerning the receiving and spending of funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections, forms of financial accounting for candidates and political parties, and for the special fund;
12) establish formats, the procedure for making, and approve the text of ballot papers for elections of the President and deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh; establish formats and the procedure for making of ballot papers for elections of local keneshes’ deputies;
13) establish formats for election commissions’ minutes, voters signature lists in support of candidates, and of other election documents; samples of ballot boxes, which shall be assembled from transparent material; formats for ballot booths; as well as duration and procedure for safekeeping of election documents; approve samples of stamps of election commissions and ensure their manufacturing. Stamps of election commissions of different levels shall differ in terms of their content, lettering and digital numbers. The number of a given precinct election commission shall correspond to the number of a respective polling station;
14) ensure printing of ballot papers for the elections of the President, deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh and of other election documents;
15) hear reports of ministries, other state authority agencies, and local administration bodies on issues concerning the preparation and conduct of elections;
16) establish the procedure for participation in elections of observers, international observers, and representatives of foreign and local mass media, and provide them with the relevant documents;
17) issue instructions or other regulatory acts concerning the procedure for providing airtime to candidates and political parties on TV and radio channels, and space in printed publications;
18) organize, in conjunction with state and local administration bodies and election commissions, the state system of voters’ registration (count);
19) register candidates for the position of the President;
20) register lists of candidates of political parties in elections of deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh
21) register authorized representatives and entrusted agents of candidates for the position of the President;
22) register authorized representatives and agents of political parties for elections of deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh;
23) issue certificates in the established form to registered candidates for the position of the President, their authorized representatives and agents;
24) issue certificates in the established form to candidates for the positions of deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh and to authorized representatives and agents of political parties;
25) inform voters about the progress of election campaigns;
26) determine results of elections of the President on the basis of protocols of subordinate election commissions and forward them to the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic for its ruling, as well as publish them in the mass media;
27) register the elected President and present the latter with a certificate, a badge and the Standard (Flag) of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic in the established form;
28) determine results of elections of deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh on the basis of protocols of election commissions;
29) register elected deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh and present them with a certificate and a badge in the established form;
30) on the basis of protocols of okrug election commissions, determine results of elections of local keneshes’ deputies in the republic as a whole and publish election results in the mass media;
31) be able to pronounce the results of voting, or an election outcome as invalid, in cases and in accordance with the procedure established by this Code;
32) schedule re-voting, second-time voting and delegate the territorial (okrug) election commission to carry it out in a given constituency, as well as indicate the necessity for precinct election commissions composed of new members to conduct elections in cases and in accordance with the procedure established by this Code;
33) order and organize the conduct of elections for the second time in cases and through the procedure established by this Code;
34) consider claims and complaints against decisions and actions of election commissions, and make decisions on them;
35) ensure the implementation of the targeted programs associated with the preparation and conduct of elections, development of the election system in the Kyrgyz Republic, legal education of voters, and professional training of election commission members and other participants of the election process;
36) establish time periods, the procedure for safekeeping and archiving of documents associated with the preparation and conduct of elections.
2. The Central Election Commission shall exercise other authority in accordance with the present Code and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 11. The Status of Election Commissions and the Procedure for Their Formation
1. Province (oblast), Bishkek and Osh city election commissions shall be formed by the Central Election Commission consisting of 11 members with decisive votes. The membership and address of oblast, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions shall be published by the Central Election Commission in the mass media within 5 calendar days from the day they are formed. The term of office of oblast, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions shall be five years. Their term of office shall terminate upon the establishment of a new composition of a respective commission.
Members of oblast, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions with decisive votes shall perform their duties without interrupting their main work and on an unpaid voluntary basis.
2. District and city election commissions shall be formed by oblast and Bishkek city election commission respectively and comprise a chairman, secretary and no less than 5 members within 10 calendar days after the announcement of elections. Membership and address of district and city election commissions shall be published in the mass media no later than 3 calendar days after they are formed.
Members of district and city election commissions with decisive votes shall perform their duties without interrupting their main work and on an unpaid voluntary basis.
3. Precinct election commissions shall be formed by superior election commissions and shall consist of no less than 7 members with decisive votes 30 days prior to a given election day. The number of members of precinct election commissions shall be established by the respective election commissions that form them.
No later than 2 calendar days after they are formed, membership and addresses of precinct election commissions shall be sent by the respective election commissions to the mass media, which shall publish this information in their next edition.
Precinct election commissions shall elect a chairman and a secretary from their respective members.
Directors of state and municipal agencies may not be elected as a chairman or secretary of precinct election commissions.
Members of precinct election commissions with decisive votes shall perform their duties without interrupting their main work and on a voluntary basis.
4. The first meeting of an election commission shall be opened and conducted by the oldest election commission member with decisive vote.
5. The establishment of election commissions shall be carried out by superior election commissions upon submission of a proposal from political parties and voters’ meetings.
A superior election commission shall approve commission members from the presented candidatures. In case the number of representatives from political parties and voters’ meetings turns out to exceed the established number of a given commission’s members with decisive votes, the issue shall be resolved by random drawing of lots through the procedure established by the Central Election Commission.
A given election commission shall include no more than one representative from each political party, voters’ meeting, as well as a representative from one and the same organization (agency, establishment). Political parties’ representatives shall not comprise more than one third from the total number of election commission members. In case the number of representatives from political parties turns out to exceed the established number, the issue shall be resolved by way of drawing lots.
In case political parties failed to propose the number of candidatures for election commission members established by this Code, those vacancies shall be filled by candidates for election commission members proposed by voters’ meetings. State and municipal employees, officials of state and municipal agencies shall not represent more than one third of the total number of a given election commission’s members with decisive votes. The indicated provisions may be disregarded when forming precinct election commissions in hospitals, sanatoria, recreation houses and other places of temporary stay, in distant regions, in pre-trial detention houses and temporary detention places, on territories of military units located in far-away and distant localities, as well as outside the territories of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Selected candidates shall be approved by a decision of the relevant superior election commission.
Candidates, who were not selected and (or) not included into a given election commission according to results derived randomly from drawing lots, shall form a reserve for inclusion into the respective election commission in case of withdrawal of some of its members with decisive votes. In case there are no reserved members, a superior election commission shall have the right to include new members, and in case of dissolution of a given election commission, the superior one shall form a precinct election commission from newly proposed candidates from political parties and voters’ meetings.
6. After a candidate or a list of candidates is registered by a respective election commission, that registered candidate or a political party which nominated its list of candidates shall have the right to appoint one member with an advisory vote into the election commission having registered a given candidate or a list of candidates, as well as into subordinate election commissions. A registered candidate or an authorized representative of a political party shall send official documents to the respective election commission, the chairman of which shall include the appointed people into the lists of that commission’s members with decisive votes and shall issue them appropriate certificates.
Officials of state or local administration bodies shall not have the right to act as election commission members with advisory votes, as well as persons holding command positions in military units and military organizations, judges, prosecutors, and people whose previous convictions have not been expunged or served in accordance with law.
The authority of a commission member with an advisory vote may be terminated upon a decision of a candidate or political party having appointed that member, and transferred to another person.
Article 12. The Procedure for Dissolution of Election Commissions
1. With the exception of permanently functioning election commissions, election commissions may be dissolved by the Central Election Commission or by court in the following cases:
a) violation of citizens’ voting rights by a given election commission which resulted in a superior election commission’s or a court’s decision to recognize vote counting on a given territory as invalid, or election results a invalid;
b) an election commission’s failure to comply a decision of a court or a superior election commission, and/or the Central Election Commission adopted in accordance with provisions of this Code;
c) requirements of Article 11 of this Code have been violated in the process of establishment of a given election commission.
2. A petition requesting the dismissal of an election commission can be lodged by the corresponding superior election commission, as well as by a candidate or a political party.
A petition to dismiss a given election commission may be submitted no later than 10 calendar days prior to the voting day or, in case of repeated voting, during the period from the time voting results at this precinct have been determined, but no later than 7 calendar days before repeated voting is to take place.
A petition to dismiss an election commission shall be considered immediately, and a decision on it shall be passed no later than within 2 calendar days after it was submitted.
3. In case a decision has been adopted to dissolve an election commission, a superior election commission shall form that election commission with new members.
An election commission with new members shall be formed no later than 3 calendar days after the decision on its dismissal came into effect.
4. The dismissal of an election commission shall not entail the termination of authority of its members with the advisory vote.
Article 13. Territorial (Okrug) Election Commissions and Their Authority
A territorial (okrug) election commission shall:
1) exercise supervision of the implementation of provisions of this Code and legislation on elections in the Kyrgyz Republic on its respective territory and ensure their uniform application;
2) form precinct election commissions;
3) direct the activities of precinct election commissions, distribute state funds among them allocated for conduct of elections, and control their designated use;
4) organize the conduct of elections on its respective territory;
5) develop and approve the plan of constituencies for elections of local keneshes’ deputies and publish in the mass media the names of constituencies with an indication of their borders and of the location of the election commissions;
6) render legal, methodological and organizational and technical assistance to precinct election commissions in the organization of voting at their precincts;
7) supervise the provision of precinct election commissions with premises, means of transport and communication, and consider other issues concerning the material-technical assistance to elections;
8) inform the population about the addresses and telephone numbers of precinct election commissions;
9) control posting of electoral registers for public familiarization;
10) consider petitions and complaints against decisions and actions (failure to act) of precinct election commissions and make decisions on them;
11) hear reports of election commissions and chiefs of enterprises, establishments and organizations concerning issues associated with the preparation and conduct of elections;
12) approve the text of a ballot paper for the constituency, provide for ballot papers’ printing in accordance with the form established by the Central Election Commission, and for the delivery of ballot papers and other documents to precinct election commissions;
13) register candidates for the position of deputies of local keneshes, their authorized representatives and entrusted agents, and election commission members with an advisory vote, and issue them certificates in the established form;
14) organize meetings of candidates with voters;
15) ensure the observation of equal legal conditions in the course of campaigning for all candidates;
16) establish results of election of local keneshes’ deputies in the relevant constituency, communicate them to the mass media, and transfer protocols of election results to the Central Election Commission;
17) organize the conduct of re-voting, second-time voting and repeated elections;
18) be able to recognize the voting outcome or election results as invalid in cases and through the procedure established by this Code;
19) register elected deputies of local keneshes and issue them certificates in the established form;
20) administer funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections in a given constituency, distribute part of the funds among precinct election commissions, and ensure supervision of their targeted use on the territory of a given constituency;
21) be able to recognize the voting results as invalid through the procedure established in paragraph 10 of Article 45 of this Code;
22) ensure the transfer of documents associated with the preparation and conduct of elections to archive or a superior election commission;
23) exercise other authority in accordance with this Code and election legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 14. District and City Election Commissions and Their Authority
1) District and city election commissions shall act as territorial (okrug) election commissions in the elections of deputies of local keneshes.
2) District and city election commissions shall:
1) carry out supervision of the preparation and conduct of elections on the respective territory;
2) inform the population about the addresses and telephone numbers of precinct election commissions;
3) coordinate the activity of precinct election commissions on the respective territory, consider complaints and applications of citizens concerning decisions and actions (failure to act) of precinct election commissions, and pass decisions on them;
4) administer funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections, distribute them among precinct election commissions;
5) ensure the observation of equal legal conditions in the course of campaigning for all candidates;
6) organize the delivery of ballot papers and other documents to precinct election commissions;
7) render organizational-technical assistance to precinct election commissions in the conduct of voting at their precincts;
8) establish the results of voting in elections on the respective territory, communicate them to the mass media, and transfer protocols on voting results to province (oblast), Bishkek and Osh city commissions;
9) ensure the transfer of documents associated with the preparation and conduct of elections to archives or a superior election commission;
10) exercise other authority in accordance with this Code and election legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 15. Authority of Precinct Election Commissions
Precinct election commissions shall:
1) inform the population of the address and telephone number of a given precinct election commission, its office hours, as well as of the day and place of voting;
2) conduct familiarization of voters with electoral registers, receive and review petitions on errors and inaccuracies in electoral registers, and decide on the introduction of appropriate changes into them;
3) control the observance of rules on posting campaigning materials on the precinct territory;
4) ensure the preparation of premises for voting, ballot boxes and other equipment;
5) organize voting at a given precinct on the election day;
6) perform the vote count and establish voting results in a given precinct;
7) consider applications and complaints against violations of this Code and make decisions on them;
8) ensure the transfer of documents concerning the preparation and conduct of elections to a superior election commission or to the archive;
9) exercise other authorities in accordance with the present Code and election legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 16. Status of an Election Commission Member
1. The following may not act as members of an election commission: deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, deputies of local keneshes, officials of state and local administration bodies, judges, candidates, their entrusted agents, authorized representatives, members of other election commissions, candidates’ close relatives, persons who are immediately subordinated to candidates, employees of law enforcement bodies, and military servicemen, as well as people whose previous convictions have not been expunged or served in accordance with the procedure established by law.
In this Code the term “immediately subordinated” shall mean official relationships between a manager and a subordinate when the former has the authority with regard to the latter to hire, and to dismiss, as well as to give orders, directions and instructions that are obligatory for execution, as well as to apply incentives and disciplinary sanctions.
2. Close relatives shall not be elected to one and the same election commission.
3. Upon a decision of a superior election commission, a chairman, secretary and members of a given election commission with a decisive vote shall be released from their responsibilities as an election commission member prior to the expiration of their authorities in the following cases:
- submission of a written application for resignation;
- moving out of the Kyrgyz Republic to their permanent place of residence;
- relinquishing or loss of citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic;
- entry into legal force of a court’s indictment with regard to them;
- entry into legal force of a court’s decision on the recognition as being incapable, partially incapable, deceased or missing;
- death;
- emergence of conditions stipulated in the first part of this Article.
- recognition as systematically failing to perform one’s duties on the basis of a decision by the superior election commission, having approved a given election commission member upon a nomination from the respective election commission;
- dismissal of a given election commission.
The election commission that formed a subordinate election commission shall be obliged to approve (determine by random drawing of lots) a new election commission member with a decisive vote instead of the one withdrawn due to one of the above- mentioned circumstances no later than three calendar days from his withdrawal. In this case, a superior election commission shall have the right to approve as a new member a candidate that was presented and considered at the commission’s meeting. In case of a withdrawal of an election commission member nominated by a political party, his place shall be taken by another member from the same political party or from a reserve, if there is one. In the opposite case, his place shall be taken by a representative of another political party who was held in reserve. In case of withdrawal of a chairman or a secretary of a precinct election commission, a new chairman or a secretary shall be elected at a meeting of the respective election commission by members of that commission.
4. Members of election commissions with decisive votes, who were released for the period of preparation and conduct of an election form their main work, shall retain their average salary in their main place of work (regardless of its form of ownership). The above-named election commission members may also be paid remuneration at the expense of funds allocated for the conduct of elections in accordance with the procedure established by legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
5. Election commission members with decisive votes, who were not released from their main place of work, shall be given an additional incentive paid leave with a duration of one working week.
6. For the period of an elections’ conduct, no criminal proceedings shall be instituted against election commission members with decisive votes, and they also shall not be detained or arrested, or subject to any administrative sanctions imposed by a court decision, without the consent of a superior election commission, except for cases in which they are detained in the act of committing a crime at the scene of the crime.
7. During the time of preparation and conduct of elections the Chairman of the Central Election Commission and its members may not be brought to trial, detained or arrested without consent of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic (in the order of formation), except for cases in which they are detained at the place of commitment of a crime. A criminal case against the Chairman and members of the Central Election Commission may be brought by the Prosecutor General of the Kyrgyz Republic.
8. During the period corresponding to elections and within six months after the end of elections, election commission members with decisive votes may not be fired upon the initiative of their administration (employer) or transferred to another job without their own consent.
9. The chairmen of a respective election commissions shall organize their work.
An election commission member with a decisive vote shall:
- be informed in good time about the respective election commission meetings;
- be entitled to speak at the election commission meetings, make suggestions on issues
which are within the authority of the respective election commission, and demand voting on these issues;
- have the right to put questions to other participants of the election commission meeting in line with its agenda and obtain essential answers to them;
- have the right to see any documents and materials of the respective and subordinate election commissions, obtain copies of those documents and materials (except for electoral registers and election ballots, and demand authentication of these copies;
- be entitled to file an appeal against actions (failure to act) of the election commission to a respective superior election commission or to a court of law;
- be entitled to check the conformity of presented voters’ identification documents with the person’s identity and the accuracy in the receipt of the ballot.
10. Election commission members with decisive votes shall have the rights that are established in this Article and are associated with the preparation and conduct of all elections in which a given election commission participates.
11. Election commission members with an advisory vote shall enjoy equal rights with election commission members with decisive votes in the issues of preparation and conduct of elections in accordance with paragraph 9 of this Article, except for the following rights:
- to issue and sign ballot papers and absentee ballots;
- to participate in the sorting, canceling of ballot papers and vote counting;
- to compile a protocol on the results of voting and election results;
- to participate in voting at a given commission’s meetings and to sign its decisions.
Article 17. Publicizing the Activity of Election Commissions
1. The activity of election commissions shall be public and open.
2. Members of superior election commissions, candidates, candidates’ representatives, representatives of political parties having nominated their candidates, or candidates from the said list shall have the right to be present at the respective election commission’s meetings, as well as representatives of non-commercial organizations and the mass media.
3. A respective election commission shall be obliged to notify its superior election commission directly, as well as all interested parties about the time and place of its meetings and to ensure the possibility of free access of people indicated in paragraph 2 of this Article to its meetings.
4. Election commissions’ decisions indicated in paragraph 7 of Article 19 of this Code shall be published in the mass media within the time periods established by this Code and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
5. On the day of voting, the persons indicated in paragraph 2 of this Article, as well as observers and international observers, shall have the right to be present at precincts from the moment a given precinct election commission began its work until a message is received that the respective superior election commission accepted the protocol on voting results, and during the recounting of votes.
In this case, no more than one representative (observer, agent or an authorized representative) from each candidate, political party, or a non-commercial organization shall be present at a given precinct at the same time. A representative (observer, agent or an authorized representative) may be substituted by another representative (observer, agent or an authorized representative). In case of repeated voting no more than two representatives (observers, agents or authorized representatives) shall have the right to be present at a given precinct. It shall be prohibited for officials of state and local administration bodies to be present at precincts, except for cases of them exercising their active electoral right, as well as for law enforcement officers, except for cases stipulated by this Code.
6. Persons indicated in paragraph 2 of this Article, as well as observers and international observers, shall have the right to be present at election commissions’ meetings, at which voting results and the election outcome are established, and respective protocols are compiled, as well as at repeated counting of votes.
7. Election commission members with advisory votes, observers, and mass media representatives who are present at precincts during voting and vote counting, shall have the right to wear badges not containing the signs of election campaigning, which indicate their status and their full name, and the full name of the candidate or name of the political party having nominated a given election commission member with an advisory vote, or having sent a given observer to that election commission, and for mass media representatives, which indicate the name of the organization they represent.
8. In events in which the present Code stipulates the issuance to persons indicated in paragraph 5 of this Article of certified copies of protocols on voting results or other documents from election commissions associated with the preparation and conduct of elections, the certification of said copies shall be done by the chairman and secretary of a given election commission. The certified copies of documents shall contain a note stating “ Valid” or “Copy is Valid”, signatures, the last names and initials of persons having certified them, date and time of certification, and a stamp of the respective election commission.
9. The chairman of an election commission shall keep a record of observers, international observers, and representatives of mass media, candidates, and political parties who are present during the time of voting, vote counting and compilation of the protocol on voting results.
Article 18. Observers, International Observers and Representatives of Mass Media
1. A candidate, political party and a non-commercial organization shall have the right to appoint observers. An observer shall acquire the rights and obligations of an observer stipulated by this Code after the receipt by a relevant election commission of a written application from the entity (person) that appointed him.
2. Citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic possessing an active electoral right may act as observers. Deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh and of local keneshes may not be appointed as observers, as well as officials of state and local administration bodies, election commission members, judges, prosecutors, employees of law enforcement bodies, and military servicemen.
3. The authority of an observer shall be certified in a written document issued by a given candidate, political party, or non-commercial organization, whose interests a given observer represents, with an indication of the observer’s full name, place of residence, numbers of precincts and names of election commissions to which he is sent, as well as notes indicating the absence of restrictions stipulated by paragraph 2 of this Article. Said document shall be valid with the simultaneous presentation of a passport or another document substituting for it. Preliminary notification about the appointment of a given observer shall not be obligatory.
4. An observer shall be authorized to:
a) see electoral registers, the register of issued absentee ballots, absentee ballots that have been submitted to a given election commission, and a register of applications (petitions) on voting outside the polling station;
b) be present in the polling station on the day of voting at any time within the period indicated in paragraph 6 of Article 17 of this Code.
c) be present during voting outside the polling station;
d) observe the overall organization and procedure for voting established by this Code, including the issuance of ballot papers; observe the counting of the number of citizens entered on the electoral registers, of ballot papers issued to voters, and cancelled ballots; observe the vote counting at such a distance and under conditions that make the ballot content visible to voters; to see any filled out or blank ballot paper in the course of counting the votes; observe the drawing up of the protocol by a given election commission on voting results and of other documents in the period indicated in paragraph 6 of Article 17 of this Code;
e) address the chairman of the commission to which he is sent with proposals and remarks on the issues of voting procedure, as well as the person substituting for the chairman in case of the latter’s absence;
f) become familiarized with the protocol of a given precinct election commission on voting results, as well as with protocols of superior election commissions; make or obtain from the respective election commission copies of said protocols and documents attached to them, as well as other documents received by respective election commissions or drawn up by them in the period indicated in paragraph 6 of Article 17 of this Code, including a list of people present at voting. Upon an observer’s request a respective election commission shall issue or certify said copies;
g) file an appeal against decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) by the precinct election commission to which he is sent, directly to the superior election commission, the Central Election Commission or the court;
h) be present at repeated counting of votes in respective election commissions.
5. An observer shall not have the right to:
a) issue election ballots to voters;
b) sign for a voter at the latter’s request for the receipt of ballot papers;
c) fill in a ballot for a voter at the latter’s request;
d) undertake actions violating the secrecy of voting;
e) directly participate in the counting of ballots by election commission members with decisive votes;
f) undertake actions hindering the work of the election commission;
g) conduct campaigning among voters;
h) participate in decision making of the respective election commission.
6. International observers shall be accredited by the Central Election Commission upon the presenting of an invitation sent by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic or the Central Election Commission after the official publication of a decision to hold an election. Solicitations for invitations may be filed by international and national non-commercial organizations having the recognized authority in the sphere of human rights protection. The Central Election Commission of the Kyrgyz Republic shall send invitations to election bodies of foreign countries, as well as international organizations specializing in the issues election legislation and elections.
7. The activity of international observers shall be regulated by the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
8. The Central Election Commission shall issue to an international observer a certificate in the established form on the basis of presented documents (declaration of accreditation as an international observer obtained from a body or entity indicated in paragraph 6 of this Article, as well as a document certifying the identity of a given foreign observer). This certificate shall entitle the observer to carry out his activity during the period stipulated in paragraph 9 of this Article.
9. An international observer’s term of authority shall begin from the day of his accreditation by the Central Election Commission and shall terminate on the day of official publication of the election’s outcome.
10. International observers shall have the right to publicly express their opinion about the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic on elections, the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as to hold press conferences and to address mass media representatives only upon the completion of voting.
11. International observers shall not have the right to use their status in order to carry out activity not associated with the observation of preparation and conduct of elections.
12. The Central Election Commission shall have the right to cancel an international observer’s accreditation in cases of violating by the latter of generally accepted principles and norms of international law, the present Code, and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
13. When participating in informational coverage of the preparation and conduct of elections, mass media representatives shall have the right to be present at election commissions’ meetings, to familiarize themselves with protocols of precinct election commissions on voting results, as well as with election commissions’ protocols on election results, including those drawn up again, to make or obtain copies from the relevant commission of said protocols and documents attached to them, and to make video recordings for information programs from the location indicated by the chairman of a given precinct election commission, without violating the secrecy of citizens’ voting. Upon a request from a mass media representative, the respective election commission shall be obliged to certify a copy of the protocol on voting results or elections’ outcome.
Article 19. Organization of Activity of Election Commissions
1. The activity of election commissions shall be carried out on the basis of collective decisions.
2. An election commission shall be authorized to start its activity once it has at least two thirds of the established number of its members.
3. The issues concerning the organization of activity of the Central Election Commission shall be regulated by the Constitution, the present Code, the Law on the Central Election Commission, and by Rules of Procedure of the Central Election Commission.
4. An election commission’s meetings shall be called by its chairman, as well as upon request of no less than one third from the established number of given election commission members with decisive votes. In the period of preparation and conduct of elections election commissions’ meetings shall be held not less than once in two weeks.
5. Election commission members with decisive votes shall be obliged to be present at all meetings of their commission.
6. An election commission meeting shall be deemed valid on the condition that a majority of its members with decisive votes participate. Upon the request of any of its members with a decisive vote, a given election commission shall carry out voting on any issues within its authority, which are considered at its meetings in accordance with the established agenda.
7. Election commission decisions on issues of financing the preparation and conduct of elections, on cancellation of candidates’ registration, on voting results or elections’ outcome, on recognition of elections as abortive or invalid, on the re-voting, second-time voting or repeat elections, as well as on the revocation of its decision, shall be adopted by no less than two thirds of all of its members with decisive votes.
Election commission decisions on other issues shall be adopted at its meetings with majority of all of its members with decisive votes.
8. No election commission member present at a given meeting shall have the right to refrain from voting.
9. Decisions of an election commission shall be signed by its chairman and its secretary.
10. Election commission members with decisive votes who disagree with a given decision adopted by that commission shall have the right to express their special opinion in writing, which shall be reflected in the minutes of that meeting, attached to them and communicated to the superior commission (according to the level of elections) by the chairman not later than within 2 days, whereas on the voting day or the day after voting – immediately.
11. Election commissions can hire non-permanent workers under labor contracts to undertake activities associated with the preparation and conduct of elections.
12. During the preparation and conduct of elections of the President or deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh, TV and radio broadcasting organizations that fall under the provisions of paragraph 16 of Article 30 of this Code shall allocate not less than 15 minutes of free airtime every week on their channels to the Central Election Commission to explain election legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, to inform voters about time periods and procedure for the implementation by them of required election-related actions, and about the course of a given election campaign, as well as to provide answers to voters’ questions.
13. The editorial boards of periodic press publications issued not less than once a week, that fall under the provisions of paragraph 16 of Article 30 of this Code, shall allocate not less 1/100 of their weekly publication space to the Central Election Commission to explain election legislation, to inform voters about time periods and procedure for the implementation by them of required election-related actions, and about the course of a given election campaign, as well as to provide answers to voters’ questions.
Chapter III
TERRITORIAL ELECTORAL DISTRICTS AND PRECINCTS
Article 20. Establishment of Constituencies
1. For the conduct of elections, single and multi-member electoral districts shall be formed on the basis of the data on the number of voters registered on their respective territory submitted by the executive state and local administration bodies.
2. When forming constituencies, the following requirements shall be observed:
- approximate equality of constituencies with regard to the number of voters with allowable variation not exceeding 10 percent from average voters’ representation rate, and in hard-to-reach and remote localities – not more than 15 percent;
- a constituency shall be considered a uniform territory, and it shall not be allowed to form a constituency from territories that are not contiguous.
The plan of constituencies shall indicate their borders, a list of inhabited localities (streets, houses) included in every constituency, as well as the name, number, the center of each constituency, and the number of voters in them.
While observing these requirements, the administrative-territorial division of the Republic shall be taken into account.
3. In elections of the President and deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh the whole territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be considered a single electoral district. Voters residing outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be included into the single constituency.
4. In elections of deputies of local keneshes from multi-member constituencies, province (oblast), Bishkek and Osh city election commissions shall develop and approve the plan of constituencies with the participation of representatives from local state bodies taking into account provisions established by the Special Part of this Code, not later than 40 calendar days from the day of appointed elections.
Respective province (oblast), Bishkek and Osh city election commissions shall publish in the mass media the plan of constituencies in the elections of local keneshes’ deputies with an indication of constituencies’ boundaries and addresses of election commissions within 7 calendar days from the day those constituencies are approved.
5. In case the requirements of paragraph 2 of this Article are violated, changes in the plan of constituencies, determination of their boundaries, and locations of election commissions shall be made by the Central Election Commission or the respective province (oblast), Bishkek or Osh city election commission.
Article 21. Establishment of Precincts
1. Precincts shall be formed for the conduct of elections and vote- counting, taking into account local and other conditions for the purposes of creating maximum conveniences for voters.
2. Precincts shall be formed by respective territorial (okrug) election commissions not later than 40 calendar days prior to the election day with no more than 2500 voters per precinct. It shall not be allowed for precincts’ boundaries to cross over territorial electoral districts (okrugs).
3. Voters, who on the voting day found themselves in hospitals, sanatoriums, recreation houses, in distant and hard-to-reach localities, in remote pastoral grazing areas, as well as in pre-trial detention houses and temporary detention places, shall vote in places of their temporary stay in accordance with the procedure established in Article 42 of this Code, provided that they permanently reside on the territory of a electoral district (okrug), which includes the location of their temporary stay. The procedure for assigning indicated voters to a specific precinct shall be established by the respective territorial (okrug) election commission.
4. Military servicemen shall vote at common precincts. As an exception, they shall be allowed to vote in military units located in isolated places that are far from populated areas in accordance with the procedure established by Article 42 of the present Code. The procedure of assigning indicated voters to a given precinct shall be defined by the respective territorial (okrug) election commission.
5. In elections of the President and deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh, upon the submission of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Central Election Commission shall establish precincts for citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic who are outside of its territory. Precincts shall be established with diplomatic missions and consular organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic, as well as in other places densely populated and visited by citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic. The requirement on the number of voters indicated in paragraph 2 of this Article may be disregarded when establishing precincts outside of the Kyrgyz Republic’s territory.
6. Lists of precincts with an indication of their boundaries and addresses shall be published by the respective territorial (okrug) election commission not later than within 5 days of their establishment.
Chapter IV
ELECTORAL REGISTERS
Article 22. Compilation of Electoral Registers
1. The main electoral registers, and, in cases stipulated by the present Code, additional electoral registers, shall be compiled for the purposes of the implementation of voters’ rights, their familiarization with data about themselves, and the conduct of voting.
2. Precinct electoral registers shall include citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, who possess an active electoral right on the day of voting, unless otherwise stipulated by the present Code.
3. The fact of permanent or prevailing residence shall be basis for including a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic into the main or additional electoral registers, as well as other reasons stipulated by the present Code.
4. From the moment of an elections’ announcement, the making up of a main electoral register, compilation and verification of data on registered voters shall be carried out by local administration bodies, and by military unit commanders with regard to voters who are military servicemen, their family members, as well as other voters residing on the territory of a given military unit.
5. A main electoral registers shall be compiled on the basis of information on voters obtained with the use of the voters’ state registration (counting) system through the procedure established by this Code and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
6. In elections of local keneshes, enlisted military personnel who serve for a fixed time period in military units, organizations and establishments, which are located on the territory of a respective administrative-territorial unit, shall not be included into electoral registers and shall not be taken into account when determining the number of voters, unless they permanently resided on that territory prior to being enlisted.
7. Information on voters temporarily staying in recreation houses, sanatoriums, medical clinics, places located in isolated and hard-to-access places, on remote pastoral grazing areas cattle breeding territories, in pre-trial detention houses, and temporary detention places, as well as on voters staying on the territories of foreign countries, shall be compiled and signed by heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, heads of said establishments, and heads of representatives of the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign countries, as well as by military unit commanders in military units, and subsequently transferred to the respective election commission. In the election of local keneshes’ deputies, citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic enjoying the active electoral right and staying in places of temporary stay indicated in this Article, shall not be included into electoral registers and not taken into account when determining the number of voters, if they don’t also permanently reside on the territory of a given election okrug.
Day-time students and postgraduate students residing in dormitories shall be included into the main electoral register on the basis of a registration mark in their passports stamped by the bodies of registration (count) no later than on the day of elections’ announcement, and shall vote according to the location of their dormitory. Candidates or their representatives, and authorized representatives of political parties having registered their lists of candidates, shall have the right to familiarize themselves with documents confirming the fact of a given student’s or postgraduate student’s residence in a dormitory on the basis of a registration stamp.
8. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic possessing the active electoral right, who, on the day of elections of the President or deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh, is staying outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic, and didn’t have an opportunity to obtain an absentee ballot or to vote in advance, shall be included by a respective precinct election commission into an additional electoral register, provided that citizen appeared on the day of voting on the voting premises of a given precinct election commission formed in the country of his stay, and submitted an application to be excluded from the main electoral register in the place of his permanent residence.
9. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic shall only be included into one main or additional electoral register. In case inaccuracies or errors are discovered in the main electoral register, information on a given voter shall be entered into an additional electoral register, and data on that citizen in the main electoral register shall be cancelled through the procedure established by this Code. Electoral registers shall include information on last and first name, patronymic, year of birth (for those 18 year of age, the day and month of birth additionally), and address of a given voter’s permanent or prevailing place of residence.
10. The main electoral register shall be compiled in two copies, in which data on voters shall be presented in alphabetical order or according to the address of the voters’ permanent place of residence (according to populated areas, streets, house numbers, apartments). Main electoral registers at each precinct shall be signed in ayls, settlements, and cities by heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, in other cities – by mayors, and in the city of Bishkek – by heads of district (rayon) administrations. No later than within 25 calendar days prior to elections, one copy shall be submitted to the respective district (rayon), city, territorial (okrug) and precinct commissions. Electoral registers on voters who are temporarily staying in recreation houses, sanatoriums, medical clinics, preventive medicine establishments, places in far-away and not easily accessible regions, on remote pastoral grazing areas, in pre-trial detention houses and temporary detention places, as well as military units, shall be compiled in two copies, in which information on voters, included into a given electoral register, shall be presented in alphabetical order. They also must be numbered, strung together (bound), and certified with a signature and stamp of the respective chiefs of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, chiefs of the above-named establishments, and military unit commanders, as well as transferred to the respective district (rayon), city, territorial (okrug), and precinct election commission not later than within 10 calendar days from voting. The form, appearance and procedure for the submission of data on voters included into electoral registers at representations of the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign countries to respective election commissions shall be defined by the Central Election Commission upon agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The main electoral registers submitted to election commissions shall be numbered, strung together (bound) and certified with a signature and stamp of the relevant heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, chiefs of district (rayon) administrations, city mayors, and military unit commanders. Main electoral registers shall remain unchanged from the moment of their signing and shall be certified by stamps of respective election commissions.
Heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, heads of local administrations, city mayors, and military unit commanders shall bear responsibility for the accuracy, and complete and timely character of the transfer of main electoral registers to the respective rayon, city, okrug, and precinct commissions, as well as other people mentioned in this Article.
Article 23. Familiarization with Electoral Registers
1. The main electoral registers shall be submitted to district (rayon), city, okrug, and precinct election commission for general familiarization and additional updating no later than 25 calendar days prior to the voting day, and 5 days prior to the voting day with regard to precincts formed at representations of the Kyrgyz Republic in foreign countries. In premises of the respective election commissions citizens shall be provided with an opportunity to become familiarized with electoral registers, as well as to check the accuracy of data on voters entered into them.
2. Each citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic exercising an active electoral right shall be entitled to notify election commissions in writing of a failure to include that citizen into the main electoral register, or of any error or inaccuracy in the main electoral register, not later than one day prior to elections, and even on the election day with regard to any errors or inaccuracies in the main electoral register. Within 24 hours, and within 2 hours on the election day from the moment of such a petition, but no later than 2 hours prior to the end of voting, election commissions shall be obliged to check the written complaint and either to remove an error or inaccuracy, or to provide a given citizen with a written response stating the reasons for rejection of the latter’s petition. Said decision of an election commission may be appealed to a respective superior election commission, and the latter’s decision, to the Central Election Commission or in court, which shall be obligated to consider such petitions within 2 days, and on the voting day – immediately.
3. A citizen’s exclusion from the main electoral register shall be made by a respective election commission only on the basis of written data obtained from the proper bodies performing voters’ registration (count), or a written application from a citizen himself, who was able to confirm his ineligibility to vote at a given precinct with information reflected in his passport. The date and reason for a citizen’s exclusion from the main register shall be indicated in it. This note shall be certified by a signature of a given election commission’s chairman and may be appealed to a respective superior election commission, and the latter’s decision may be appealed in the Central Election Commission or in court, which shall be obliged to consider the appeal within two days, and immediately if it’s a voting day.
4. Executive state bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be obliged to render necessary assistance to election commissions on issues of inclusion or non-inclusion of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic into electoral registers, as well as on issues of errors or inaccuracies in electoral registers.
5. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic possessing an active electoral right shall be included into an additional electoral register by a decision of the respective precinct election commission on the basis of his warranted written statement (with an indication of the passport data) on his non-inclusion into the main electoral register, or any error or inaccuracy in the main electoral register, which is submitted to a given precinct election commission no later than the day preceding the voting, as well as presenting a passport with a registration mark (propiska) confirming his residence on the territory of a given precinct. A citizen’s inclusion into the additional electoral register on the voting day shall be carried out on the basis of an absentee ballot or a court’s decision, and, in case of any error or inaccuracy in the main electoral register, by a decision of the respective precinct election commission on the basis a voter’s warranted written statement (with an indication of passport data) and passport’s presentation with an appropriate registration mark (propiska). Such a note on inclusion shall be certified by the chairman and the secretary of a given precinct election commission and by its stamp, as well as with signatures of at least two election commission members with advisory votes, and in the absence of such members – by another candidate’s or political party representatives or observers.
6. Citizens’ written statements on their inclusion or non-inclusion into electoral registers shall be registered by the secretary of a respective precinct election commission in a separate journal that is numbered, strung together and stamped with the stamp of the respective election commission.
7. After the end of voting and the beginning of vote counting, it shall be prohibited to introduce any changes into electoral registers.
Article 24. State Registration (Count) of Voters
1. All citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic possessing the active electoral right shall be subject to registration (count).
2. The fact of the permanent residence of a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic on the respective territory shall serve as a basis for a voter’s registration. The former shall be established by the bodies for registration count of the population in accordance with legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic regulating the procedure for the implementation of the right of the Kyrgyz Republic’s citizens to freedom of movement, the choice of a place of stay and residence on the entire territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.
3. The fact of citizens’ permanent residence on the territory of a foreign country or their long-term assignments abroad shall serve as a basis for registration of voters residing outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. The former shall be established by diplomatic representations and consular organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic.
4. When performing voters’ state registration the electronic system “Shailoo” shall be used. Input of data into the electronic system “Shailoo” for voters’ state registration shall be carried out by system administrators through the procedure established by the rules on the system of voter’s state registration, which shall be approved by the Central Election Commission on the basis of data submitted by local executive state bodies, the bodies for citizens’ state registration, military unit commanders, heads of diplomatic representations or consular organizations of the Kyrgyz Republic.
5. A voter shall have the right to unimpeded access to documented information (personal data) on himself, including information stored on printable information carrying devices, the right to update this information for the purposes of ensuring its completeness and authenticity, as well as the right to know who and for what purposes is using or have used this information.
6. Bodies performing citizens’ registration in the areas of their place of residence and place of stay, and the issuance and substitution of documents certifying the identity of a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic, shall submit at least once a month information on the facts of the issuance and replacement of passports of the Kyrgyz Republic’s citizens, and their registration and deregistration in the place of residence with an indication of their passport data to heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, city mayors, and heads of district (rayon) administrations.
7. Bodies performing registration of vital records at least once a month shall submit information on the death of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic to heads of the respective executive-regulatory local administration bodies, city mayors, and heads of district (rayon) administrations.
8. At least once in three months, bodies performing military registration and enlistment and bodies (establishments) of the criminal-law implementation system shall communicate information on the Kyrgyz Republic’s citizens enlisted (contracted) to military service (discharged from military service), or incarcerated at places of imprisonment on the basis of a court’s conviction respectively to heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, city mayors, and heads of district (rayon) administrations in the place of residence of a given citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic.
9. Heads of executive-regulatory local administration bodies, city mayors, and heads of district (rayon) administrations and military commanders shall submit information indicated in paragraphs 6 and 7 of this Article at least once a month, and information indicated in paragraph 8 of this Article at least once in three months to respective election commissions, which shall immediately pass this information on to the Central Election Commission in order to form and maintain electoral registers.
Chapter V
NOMINATION AND REGISTRATION OF CANDIDATES AND GUARANTEES FOR THEIR ACTIVITY
Article 25. Nomination of Candidates or a List of Candidates
1. The right to nominate candidates shall belong to political parties, as well as to citizens by way of self-nomination.
2. Political parties having undergone official registration in the registration bodies of the Kyrgyz Republic as of the day of elections’ announcement, shall participate in elections in accordance with this Code and the Law on Political Parties.
A state executive body authorized to perform functions in the area of registration of political parties, shall compile a list of political parties registered in accordance with the Law on Political Parties and possessing the right to participate in elections of state and local administration bodies, and shall publish the above-named list in the state periodical press on the day, but later than within three days of official publication of the decision on elections’ announcement, with an indication of the head of each political party, as well as shall submit the above-named list to the Central Election Commission within the same period.
Political parties participating in elections shall have the right to nominate their representatives as election commission members with an advisory vote, as well as their authorized representatives, entrusted agents and observers in accordance with this Code.
3. In elections under the proportional representation system, a political party shall have the right to nominate candidates within a list of candidates in the number not less than the number of mandates established for distribution under the proportional system.
In a multi-member constituency, a political party may nominate the number of candidates not exceeding the number of mandates established for a given constituency.
4. Nomination of candidates for the positions of the President, deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh, and local keneshes’ deputies by a political party shall be carried out through the procedure and within the time period established by the Special Part of this Code.
Political parties shall not have the right to nominate as candidates persons who are members of other political parties.
5. A list of candidates nominated by a political party in a single electoral district or a multi-member constituency shall be submitted by an authorized representative of a given party to the Central Election Commission (the respective district (okrug) election commission) as a printed list within time periods indicated in the Special Part of this Code.
A political party’s decision on the nomination of a list of candidates in a single or multi-member electoral district shall be certified with the signature of the head of a given political party and its stamp, and shall contain an attachment with information forms filled out by each candidate entered on the list in accordance with the requirements of this Code.
6. The respective election commission shall be obliged to issue to the person having submitted the documents indicated in paragraph 5 of this Article a written confirmation of their receipt.
The above-named confirmation and reference paper shall be issued immediately after the documents’ submission.
Article 26. Authorized Representatives of Candidates and Political Parties
1. Candidates and political parties shall appoint their authorized representatives who shall represent respective candidates and political parties on issues associated with the participation in elections, including the financial issues.
The following people shall not act as authorized representatives: deputies, members of the Government, employees of the President’s Administration, of the apparatus of the Government or Zhogorku Kenesh, officials of state executive and local administration bodies, election commission members, judges, employees of law enforcement bodies, and military servicemen, as well as foreign citizens and stateless persons.
2. A list of authorized representatives of a candidate or a political party shall be submitted to a respective election commission with an indication of their authorities, first and last name, patronymic, date of birth, series and number of their passport or a document substituting for it, and the date of its issue, address of their residence, main place of work or service, position held (or occupation in case there is no place of work or service), as well as their telephone numbers for each one of them, and also proof of the right to place their signature on financial documents for candidates’ authorized representatives on financial issues. The above-named list submitted to a given election commission shall also contain an attachment with the written consent of every mentioned person to carry out the indicated activity.
3. Within two calendar days from the receipt of necessary documents, a respective election commission shall issue registration certificates to authorized representatives or shall reach a warranted decision on the refusal of registration in accordance with this Code. An authorized representative of a candidate or a political party shall be considered appointed and shall acquire the relevant rights and responsibilities upon the issuance to him of a registration certificate by a respective election commission.
4. An authorized representative of a candidate or a political party, who acts upon the authority of other state or municipal offices, shall not have the right to abuse the power given by his status or position.
5. An authorized representative shall:
- certify subscription lists in the process of collecting voters’ signatures in support of a given candidate, count the number of signatures, and compile a protocol on the results of signatures’ collection;
- submit subscription lists in support of a given candidate to the respective election commission, as well as other documents necessary for a candidates’ registration;
- obtain from the election commission a written confirmation (reference document) of the receipt of subscription lists and other documents;
- carry out election campaigning and distribute campaigning materials;
- be entitled to participate in random drawings carried out by election commissions when determining the order of granting airtime to candidates and political parties;
- be entitled to be present at election commissions’ meetings associated with issues relevant to a given candidate, or political party having appointed this representative;
- exercise other authorities established by elections legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic and authorities entrusted by a given candidate or political party.
6. A candidate or political party shall have the right to terminate the authorities of an authorized representative at any time, with a written notification to the election commission having registered that authorized representative.
7. The term of authority of authorized representatives of a candidate or political party shall begin from the day of their registration by a respective election commission and shall expire from the moment of the loss of the status of a candidate for the position of the President, a deputy, or of all candidates nominated on the list of candidates by a political party in a single electoral district, but no later than the day of official publication of the elections’ outcome. The term of authority of candidates’ authorized representatives on financial issues shall expire 20 days after the determination of the elections’ outcome.
Article 27. Registration of Candidates and a List of Candidates
1. The following documents shall be presented to okrug election commissions for the registration of candidates or a list of candidates:
- documents stipulated in Article 25 of this Code;
- a document confirming the transfer of an election deposit as stipulated by the Special Part of this Code;
- other documents stipulated by the Special Part of this Code.
2. Within the time period established by the Special Part of this Code a respective election commission shall verify the compliance of submitted documents with the requirements of this Code and make a decision on the registration of a given candidate or a refusal of his registration.
3. It shall be prohibited to register one and the same person in more than one multi-member constituency in the same elections.
4. In case of registration of a candidate nominated by a political party, the fact shall be reflected of that candidate’s nomination by the respective political party in a relevant decision of a given election commission.
5. In case a decision has been reached on the refusal to register a candidate or a list of candidates, a respective election commission shall be obligated to issue, within 24 hours from the moment it has been reached, a copy of such a decision stating the reasons for the refusal to a given candidate or his authorized representative, or an authorized representative of a given political party.
The reasons for refusal shall be as follows:
1) a failure to submit documents necessary in accordance with this Code for the registration of a candidate or a list of candidates, as well as failure to comply the requirements of Article 72 of this Code;
2) insufficient number of presented authenticated voters’ signatures in support of a given candidate, established by the Special Part of this Code;
3) the absence of the passive electoral right with a given candidate;
4) the fact a given candidate’s registration in the list of another political party or in another multi-member constituency in the same elections;
5) failure of a given candidate or a political party to establish their election fund in cases stipulated by this Code;
6) a candidate’s possessing a citizenship of another country.
In case a candidate or an authorized representative of a political party failed to submit all documents necessary for registration as stipulated in this Article, but submitted them later, before the registration period ended, a given election commission shall be obligated to register such a candidate or a list of candidates.
6. The existence of grounds for refusal of a registration stipulated in subparagraphs 1, 3, 4 and 6 of paragraph 5 of this Article with regard to individual candidates included in a list of candidates from a single electoral district, shall serve as a basis for only those candidates’ exclusion from a given verified list of candidates.
7. A decision on the refusal to register a list of candidates may be appealed to a superior election commission or in court.
8. A candidate for the position of the President, or a local kenesh’s deputy, as well as a candidate from a given list of candidates, shall have the right at any time, but no later than three days prior to the voting day, to refuse to further participate in elections, by submitting a relevant written statement to the Central (the relevant okrug) Election Commission. A political party shall have the right at any time, but no later than three days prior to the voting day, to withdraw its list of candidates and to refuse to participate in elections in a single electoral district, or to exclude certain candidates from the list certified by the respective election commission, by submitting a relevant written statement to the Central Election Commission. On the basis of written indicated statements the Central (the relevant okrug) Election Commission having registered a given candidate or list of candidates shall be obliged to pass a decision on cancelling the registration of a given candidate, or the latter’s exclusion from the relevant list of candidates.
9. In case it turns out that the number of registered candidates is less than the established number of mandates in a given constituency, elections there shall be postponed until additional nomination of candidates and the performance of further election actions.
10. No later than on the fifth day after candidates’ registration, the respective election commission shall publish the announcement on registration in printed media with an indication of each candidate’s full name, date of birth, held position (occupation), place of work and residence, as well as his party affiliation.
11. No later than on the fifth day after the registration of a list of candidates, the Central Election Commission shall publish the announcement of the list’s registration with an indication of the names of political parties, as well as included candidates’ full name, date of birth, held position (occupation), and their place of residence.
12. Within two calendar days after the registration, a respective election commission shall issue to each candidate a proper certificate of candidate, with an indication of his constituency and the date of registration.
Article 28. The Status of Candidates
1. All candidates shall possess equal rights and obligations except for cases established by this Code.
2. Those candidates shall not have the right to abuse their official or service position, who hold political and administrative state positions and municipal positions, as well as managerial positions in state or municipal organizations, establishments, or enterprises with a state (municipal) share of more than 30%, as well as their subdivisions.
In this Code the abuse of official or service position shall mean the following:
- the engagement of persons being in subordination, or another official dependence, as well as other state or municipal employees engaged in activity carried out during their official working time that facilitates the nomination and (or) election;
- the use of premises occupied by state or local administration bodies to carry out activity that facilitates the nomination and (or) election, in case other candidates may not use the same premises on the same conditions;
- the use of telephone, fax or other types of communication, as well as information services and organizational equipment that ensure the proper functioning of state or local administration bodies in order to carry out activity that facilitates the nomination and (or) election;
- free or privileged use of transport being state or communal property in order to carry out activity that facilitates the nomination and (or) election. This provision shall not apply to persons who use the above-named transport in accordance with legislation on state protection, as well as to deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh;
- the conduct of collection of signatures or election campaigning by state of municipal employees in the course of their business trips;
- primary access (as compared to other candidates) to the mass media for the purposes of conducting the collection of signatures or election campaigning.
Compliance with the above-named restrictions should not prevent elected officials from carrying out their responsibilities to voters.
3. Heads and deputy heads of ministries, state committees, administrative departments and other state executive bodies, as well as of law enforcement and fiscal bodies and their province and district structural subdivisions, heads, deputy heads of local state administrations, executive-administrative bodies of local self-government, state establishments, enterprises with more than 30% state and municipal share in the charter capital must be released from their occupied positions in case a constituency for elections of deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh or local keneshes to which they are running is located within the area of authority of the respective above-named bodies.
In this case the area of authority shall mean an administrative-territorial unit to which the activity and the servicing of the above-named bodies extends.
From the moment of their registration until the determination of elections’ outcome, registered candidates who act as substitutes for state positions, municipal positions or those working the mass media, must be released from the performance of service and work obligations, or such performance shall be suspended. This rule shall not apply to the President or deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh.
Within 3 working days from the moment of a candidate’s appeal or report, the management of state and local administration bodies, enterprises, establishments, organizations, and military unit commanders, as well as other respective officials of the bodies in which a given registered candidate performs work or service, shall be obligated to release the latter from the carrying out of his official (service) responsibilities or to suspend it with the retention of an average salary at the expense of a respective establishment, enterprise, or organization regardless of its form of ownership.
Candidates or their authorized representatives, authorized representatives of political parties shall submit to a given election commission a certified copy of the corresponding orders (directions) no later than within 5 calendar days from the day of registration.
An election commission performing the registration of candidates, or lists of candidates, shall be obligated to warn a given candidate and authorized representatives of a political party about the existence of the above-mentioned circumstances of that candidate.
4. During the conduct of elections, at the administration’s (employer’s) initiative, a registered candidate may not be fired from his work (official position) or transferred to another job (position) without his consent.
The time of a registered candidate’s participation in elections shall be included into the general service record (length of service) in the occupation which he held prior to being registered as a candidate.
5. Until the day of the official announcement by an election commission of the elections’ outcome in the mass media, a registered candidate may not be brought to criminal liability, detained, arrested, or subject to measures of administrative punishment imposed through a court order without the consent of the Central Election Commission, except for cases when they are detained in the act of committing a crime. Institution of criminal proceedings shall not be the basis for prohibition to exercise a candidate’s right to be elected.
6. From the moment of official publication by an election commission of elections’ results in the mass media, a given registered candidate shall lose his rights and shall be released from responsibilities associated with his status as a candidate, and in case of his early withdrawal – from that moment.
7. A candidate and a political party shall have the right to appoint election commission members with advisory vote, authorized representatives, entrusted agents, and observers through the procedure stipulated by this Code. In cases stipulated by this Code, a candidate and a political party shall bear responsibility for the actions of their representatives, and for violations by them of the requirements of this Code.
Article 29. Entrusted Agents of a Candidate and a Political Party
1. A candidate and a political party shall have the right to appoint entrusted agents.
2. Registration of entrusted agents shall be carried out immediately by an election commission having registered a given candidate, or a list of candidates on the basis of a written application by a respective candidate or political party and a given citizen’s statement of consent to act as an entrusted agent. An election commission shall issue to a given agent a certificate in the form established by the Central Election Commission.
3. Deputies, members of the Government, employees of the Presidential Administration and of the apparatus of the Government and Zhogorku Kenesh may not act as entrusted agents, as well as officials of state and local administration bodies, election commission members, judges, employees of law enforcement bodies, military servicemen, foreign citizens and stateless persons.
4. Agents shall act within the limits of the authority given to them by their candidates or political parties.
5. Entrusted agents shall have the right to:
- carry out campaigning and other activity facilitating the election of a given candidate or list of candidates, and to present their election campaign programs in any legal forms and methods;
- give speeches at campaign meetings and voters’ meetings, and to participate in debates and discussions;
- receive necessary assistance from state and local administration bodies in the conduct of campaign meetings and meetings with voters;
- be present at election commissions’ meetings;
- be present at precincts, including those formed outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic during the conduct of voting, vote counting, and establishment of voting results;
- familiarize themselves with documents of election commissions, as well as protocols on the results of voting and elections’ outcome;
- appeal decisions and actions (failure to act) of election commissions and be present during considerations of complaints and applications.
6. Entrusted agents shall not have the right to:
- interfere with the work of election commissions;
- sign for a voter at the polling station at the latter’s request concerning the receipt of ballot papers, as well as to fill in ballot papers for him in the polling booth, specially equipped place or a room for secret voting;
- to host information TV and radio programs, or to participate in the coverage of elections through the mass media in case they are journalists, creative employees or officials of the respective mass media offices.
7. The administration (the employer) shall be obligated to provide an entrusted agent at the latter’s request with a non-paid leave of absence until the moment his authorities are terminated.
8. A candidate or political party, having appointed entrusted agents, shall have the right to withdraw them at any time, with a written notification to the election commission, which shall cancel their certificates. An entrusted person shall have the right to withdraw at any time at his own initiative by returning the certificate issued to him to the respective election commission, and notifying the candidate or political party having appointed him.
9. An entrusted agents’ authority shall terminate under the circumstances indicated in paragraph 8 of this Article or simultaneously with the loss of status by a given candidate having appointed him, or by a given political party having nominated a list of candidates.
Chapter VI
INFORMATION SUPPORT FOR ELECTIONS
Article 30. Informing the Electorate in Conducting Election Campaigning
1. Information support of elections shall include informing the electorate and election campaigning, and shall facilitate the conscious expression of citizens’ will and the elections’ openness.
2. Informing the electorate shall be carried out by the state and local administration bodies, election commissions, the mass media, as well as legal and physical entities in accordance with this Code and current legislation.
3. The content of information materials placed in the mass media or distributed by other methods shall be objective, verifiable, and shall not violate the equality of candidates and political parties, and shall not give preference to any candidate or a political party.
4. When publishing (covering) the results of public opinion polls associated with elections, the mass media, citizens and organizations implementing the above-named publication (coverage), shall be obliged to indicate a specific organization or a physical person having conducted the poll, the time of its conduct, the number of people asked (sample size), the method of gathering information, the region of polling, the exact phrase of the question, the statistical estimation of possible error, as well as the entity (entities) having ordered the survey and having paid for its publication.
6. In the last five days prior to, as well as on the voting day it shall not be allowed to publish (cover) results of public opinion polls in the mass media, as well as forecasts of elections’ outcomes, and other studies associated with elections.
7. Failure to comply with the requirements of paragraph 5 and 6 of this Article when publishing results of public opinion polls shall entail the recognition of materials, containing such information as campaigning (agitation) and subsequent responsibility stipulated by the present Code.
8. When conducting elections, the state shall provide for unimpeded campaigning to citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, candidates, and political parties in accordance with this Code and laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
9. In the ways not prohibited by law and by legitimate methods, citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, candidates, and political parties shall have the right to carry out campaigning for participants in elections, discuss freely and in-depth candidates’ election programs, and their political, business, personal qualities, as well as election programs of political parties, and campaign for and against any candidate, list of candidates at conventions, meetings and in the mass media. Election commissions, jointly with state executive and local administration bodies, shall facilitate the conduct of such meetings by providing premises, inform in advance of the time and place of meetings, and carry out other necessary measures. Election commissions shall organize meetings of all candidates with voters at the same time.
Unless otherwise stipulated by the present Code, the following acts carried out during the period of an election campaign shall be recognized as election campaigning:
- appeals to vote for a given candidate, list of candidates, or against them;
- expression of preference with regard to a given candidate or political party, in particular to which candidate or a political party a given voter is going to give his vote;
- description of possible consequences of election or failure to elect a given candidate or list of candidates;
- distribution of information with obvious prevalence of data on a given candidate or a political party.
During the period of an election campaign, citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic and political parties not participating in elections shall have the right to carry out pre-election campaigning that requires financing only upon the agreement with the relevant candidates and political parties and through their election funds.
10. Candidates and political parties shall be guaranteed equal conditions of access to the mass media.
11. During elections campaigning may be carried out as follows:
- through the mass media;
- by conduct of mass events (meetings and conventions with citizens, public debates and discussions, meetings, demonstrations, marches, public debates and discussions);
- by the issuance and distribution of printed, audio-visual and other campaigning materials;
- by other methods not prohibited by law.
12. Candidates and political parties shall have the right to independently determine the form and character of their campaign through the mass media.
13. It shall be prohibited to participate in election campaigning, including to issue and distribute any campaign materials, for election commission members, observers, international observers, judges, members of charitable organizations, members and representatives of religious organizations, employees of law enforcement, tax and financial bodies, and military servicemen, except when the above-named persons are registered as candidates, as well as candidates’ representatives in cases stipulated by this Code. It shall also be prohibited to participate in election campaigning for persons who have not reached the age of 18, foreign citizens, foreign countries and organization, as well as international organizations and international public movements.
People who work as state or municipal employees shall not have the right to carry out election campaigning during the time when they perform their responsibilities, as well as to use state and municipal resources in campaigning.
14. It shall be prohibited to carry out election campaigning in foreign mass media that are distributed on the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.
15. In accordance with the present Code, journalists, other intellectual employees, as well as officials of mass media organizations shall be prohibited to host television and radio- programs, and to participate in the coverage of elections through these mass media, if the above-named persons are candidates or their representatives. This rule shall not apply to campaign speeches of said people when candidates use free airtime on the channels of state and local television and radio organizations through the procedure stipulated by Article 32 of this Code.
16. The mass media organizations the founders of which are state and local administration bodies or their subordinate establishments and enterprises, and which are financed fully or partially at the expense of the national or local budget, as well as the mass media that have privileges with regard to taxes and other obligatory payments as compared to other mass media organizations, shall be obliged to provide to candidates and political parties with equal opportunities for conducting election campaigning.
17. The mass media organizations not falling under the provision of paragraph 16 of this Article shall have the right to provide airtime and printed space on a contractual basis to candidates and political parties in accordance with the Instructions on the procedure for providing candidates and political parties with airtime on TV and radio-organizations’ channels, with printed space in periodic printed publications, as approved by the Central Election Commission. Payment by candidates and political parties for airtime and printed products shall be carried out on an equal basis exclusively through their respective election funds. The amount of payment for airtime or printed products shall be equal for all candidates and political parties.
18. During elections, information on the amount and other conditions of payment for airtime and printed space shall be published by relevant organizations of TV and radio- broadcasting, or periodicals shall be published within five calendar days after the official publication of a decision on the elections’ announcement, and, within the same period, shall be submitted to the Central Election Commission and a respective election commission organizing the elections, with a notification of readiness to provide all candidates and political parties with airtime or printed space for the conduct of election campaigning.
Article 31. Time Periods for Election Campaigning
1. Election campaigning shall begin from the day of the termination of the registration of candidates’ and list of candidates, and shall end 24 hours prior to the beginning of voting.
2. In case of second-time voting, election campaigning shall resume from the moment the second-time voting decision is announced and shall end 24 hours prior to the beginning of second-time voting.
3. On the day of voting campaigning printed materials (flyers, posters, billboards and other materials) that were earlier placed outside election commissions’ premises and polling stations shall stay at their places.
Article 32. Campaigning on Television and Radio
1. Candidates and political parties shall have the right to be provided with free airtime on the channels of television and radio organizations, which fall under the provision of paragraph 16 of Article 30 of this Code, and carry out television and radio broadcasting on the territory where elections are taking place. The above-named airtime shall be within the period from 20:00 – 24:00 hours when television and radio programs gather the maximum audience.
2. The total volume of free airtime provided by a state television and radio organization to carry out campaigning in the elections of the President and deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh shall be no less than 1 hour on working days. Indicated free airtime shall be distributed on equal basis among registered candidates or political parties having nominated lists of candidates, who showed up for a given program.
Candidates or political parties having nominated lists of candidates shall not have the right to use free airtime provided to them in order to campaign for other candidates or political parties.
3. No less than one third of the total amount of provided free airtime shall be given to candidates and political parties having nominated lists of candidates exclusively for the conduct of discussions, round tables, and other similar campaigning measures. All candidates and political parties shall be allowed to use this share of free airtime on equal basis.
In joint campaigning events on the channels of TV and radio broadcasting organizations, registered candidates shall be allowed to participate only in person, and with regard to political parties – through their authorized representatives or entrusted agents. A given registered candidate’s or political party’s refusal to participate in a joint campaigning event shall not entail an increase in the amount of free airtime provided to them.
If a candidate or political party were not able to participate in such a joint event due to objective reasons, they shall be entitled to ask to be provided that airtime to use along with other candidates or political parties that were not able to participate.
4. Television and radio organizations, which fall under the provision of paragraph 16 of Article 30 of this Code, shall be obligated to reserve paid airtime for candidates’ and political parties’ campaigns in the context of the level of the elections. The above-named airtime shall be provided on a contractual basis to a given candidate or political party at their request for a payment. The total volume of reserved paid airtime shall not be less of the total volume of free airtime, and the amount of payment shall be equal for all candidates and political parties. In this regard every candidate or political party shall be entitled to receive the amount of time from the total volume of reserved airtime within their share determined by dividing that total volume by the number of candidates or political parties.
5. It shall be prohibited to interrupt speeches of candidates or political party representatives, as well as to accompany them with any commentaries.
6. Regulating the procedure for providing airtime to candidates and political parties on the channels of television and radio organizations, that fall under the provision of paragraph 17 of Article 30 of this Code, shall be established by legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
7. Television and radio organizations, regardless of their forms of ownership, that provided airtime to candidates or political parties, shall be obligated to provide airtime to other candidates or political parties on the same conditions (the same payment rates, the time of broadcasting, total time and other conditions).
8. The procedure, volume and time of television and radio programs for election campaigning shall be established by election commissions upon the agreement with the management of respective television and radio organizations, and shall be distributed in compliance with the principle of equality among candidates or political parties.
Article 33. Election Campaigning Through Printed Publications of the Mass Media
1. Printed periodicals, which fall under the provision of paragraph 16 of Article 30 of this Code and are distributed on the territory where elections are held, shall provide on equal conditions, free printed space for materials submitted by candidates or political parties having nominated registered lists of candidates, in the amount of no less than one page of the A4 format, with the exception of periodicals established by state and local administration bodies exclusively for the publication of official announcements and materials, as well as regulatory and other acts. For specialized printed publications (children’s, technical, scientific and others) it shall be permitted to refuse to publish any campaigning materials on the condition of their total non-participation in election campaigns in any form.
2. Printed periodicals regardless of their forms of ownership that provided printed space to candidates or political parties, shall be obligated to provide printed space to other candidates or political parties on the same conditions (the same payment rates, the time of broadcasting, total volume and other conditions).
Article 34. Election Campaigning Through Mass Events
1. State and local administration bodies shall be obligated to render assistance to candidates or political parties in the organization of conventions and meetings with citizens, debates and discussions, rallies, demonstrations and parades, as well as to ensure the safety when conducting such mass events.
2. Candidates’ and political parties’ applications to be provided with state or municipal premises for the conduct of voters’ meetings shall be considered by state and local administration bodies on the day such applications are submitted.
In case of a refusal to a candidate or a political party in the provision of the above-named premises for the conduct of voters’ meetings, state and local administration bodies shall be obligated to issue a written warranted decision on such refusal.
In case the indicated premises were provided for the conduct of mass events to one candidate or a political party, it shall not be allowed to refuse to provide the same premises for other candidates or political parties.
3. Upon a request from an election commission, premises suitable for the conduct of mass events, which are in the state or municipal ownership, and are on the balance sheet of state enterprises, establishments or organizations, shall be provided for free for the time period indicated by a given election commission for meetings with voters of candidates, political parties or their authorized representatives of entrusted agents. In this regard election commissions shall be obligated to ensure equal opportunities for candidates and political parties in the conduct of mass events.
Article 35. Issue and Distribution of Printed, Audiovisual and Other Campaigning Materials
1. Candidates and political parties shall be entitled to issue and distribute printed, audiovisual and other campaigning materials without impediment, through the procedure established by legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic. It shall be prohibited to produce campaigning materials outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic. Samples of printed and other campaigning materials or their copies shall be submitted to a relevant election commission having registered a given candidate or list of candidates.
2. All printed and other campaigning materials shall contain names and addresses of organizations (full names and residence addresses of people) having produced campaigning materials, the full name of a given person (organization) that ordered their production, and information on their circulation and date of issue, as well as the full name of a given candidate, and authorized political party representative who paid for the order. Distribution of campaigning materials, which do not contain the indicated information, shall be prohibited.
3. Within ten calendar days after the announcement of elections, local administration bodies shall be obligated to plan on special places to display campaigning materials on the territory of each precinct. Candidates and political parties shall be provided with equal conditions for the placement of such materials.
4. It shall be prohibited to place the above-named materials on monuments, obelisks, and buildings having historical, cultural and architectural value, as well as in the premises of election commissions, at their entrances and inside the polling stations.
5. An election commission that has been notified of the distribution of forged campaigning materials or those not containing the information stipulated in paragraph 2 of this Article, shall undertake measures to suppress this activity, and shall have the right to apply to the relevant law enforcement and other bodies with a petition to terminate unlawful campaigning activity and to confiscate illegal campaigning materials.
6. Candidates and political parties shall have the right to use printed, audiovisual and other campaigning materials, which were produced prior to the elections announcement, in accordance with the requirements of this Article and within the sum of expenditures from candidates’ and political parties’ election fund.
Article 36. Impermissibility of Abusing the Right to Conduct Election Campaigning
1. Election commissions shall supervise the compliance with the established procedure for the conduct of election campaigning.
2. In the conduct of election campaigning it shall not be allowed to abuse the freedom of the mass media, and namely the following: campaigning that excites social, religious, racial, or national hatred and antagonism, calls to seize power, use of coercion to change the constitutional order and the violation of the state’s integrity, propaganda of war and other forms of abusing the freedom of the mass media, that are prohibited by laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
3. From the moment of elections’ announcement candidates, their close relatives, political parties and their authorized representatives and agents shall be prohibited to bribe voters, to pay them money, present them with gifts or other material values, to carry out concessionary sale of goods, and to distribute any free goods, except campaigning printed materials, badges and other symbolism, as well as to render services for free or on privileged conditions.
It shall not be considered bribery to make a payment for performed organizational and other work (being on duty at precincts, collection of signatures, campaigning and other work), which is done within the framework of labor agreements between candidates or political parties and the performer and is paid from the election funds of given candidate or a political party.
4. From the moment of the elections’ announcement, and prior to the publication of elections’ outcome, candidates, their close relatives, political parties and their representatives shall not have the right to engage in a charitable activity, including outside the territory of a given constituency from which a given candidate is nominated.
5. When participating in election campaigns candidates, their representatives, political parties’ representatives, the mass media organizations, and other persons shall not have right to permit a publication based on information that is knowingly false and derogatory to the honor, dignity or the business reputation of candidates or political parties. The mass media having allowed such publications upon a candidate’s or a political party’s request, shall be obligated to publish a rebuttal or to provide an explanation for a given article or speech that is not in compliance with real facts or distorting them. Rebuttals or explanations shall be published in a special section or on the same section of the paper and with the same font size that was used for the information to which a reply is being given, with regard to periodical publications – in the next issue, and with regard to refutations or explanations on television and radio, in the next program after the refutation or explanation was received.
6. A failure to present a candidate or a political party an opportunity to publish a refutation prior to the end of an election campaign or other explanations to defend their dignity in the mass media which made public the information capable of damaging the reputation of a given candidate or political party, may serve as a basis for judicial liability for those mass media organizations.
7. In cases of violation by a candidate, or a political party, as well as their representatives and mass media organizations of paragraphs 2 and 5 of this Article, election commissions, voters of a given constituency, a candidate, political party, as well as their representatives and mass media organizations shall have the right to submit to law-enforcement bodies or court a proposal on the termination of unlawful campaigning activity and the subjection of guilty parties to liability in accordance with the procedures stipulated by this Code and current legislation.
Law-enforcement bodies shall be obligated to undertake measures to terminate unlawful campaigning activity and to immediately inform the respective election commission about the established facts and undertaken measures, as well as to render assistance to election commissions to prevent the production of forged and illegal printed, audiovisual and other campaigning materials, as well as to confiscate them, and to establish producers of said materials and the source of their payment.
8. In case of violating the requirements established by Articles 30 – 36 of this Code by a candidate or a political party, a given election commission shall have the right to issue a warning, and in case of repeated violations of the above-named requirements, the respective election commission shall cancel the decision on the registration of a given candidate or list of candidates on the basis and through the procedure established by this Code.
Chapter VII
THE ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURE OF VOTING
Article 37. Premises for Voting
1. Voting premises shall be provided for the use of an election commission by state or local administration bodies free of charge.
2. The following shall be placed in the voting premises: polling booths or other specially equipped places for secret voting provided with a lighting system and writing accessories, except for pencils, as well as polling boxes.
The lighting system shall have an alternative source of power supply. If the light goes off, the voting shall be suspended until the light comes back on (due to the main or alternative power source). In this case, for the purposes of effective observation of a given election commission’s work, observers, candidates’ and political parties’ representatives shall have the right to stay near polling booths and polling boxes at a distance that ensures the implementation of their functions.
3. In the voting premises an election commission shall put up a poster, on which information materials shall be placed concerning all candidates or political parties having registered lists of candidates. The above-named materials shall not contain campaigning slogans. Samples of filled out ballot papers shall also be placed on the indicated poster, that should not contain the last names of candidates or the political parties having registered lists of candidates, that are registered in a given constituency.
The voting premises shall be equipped in such a way that places for distribution of ballot paper, booths or other places for secret voting and polling boxes are simultaneously within the field of vision of election commission members, candidates’ or political parties’ representatives, and observers.
Article 38. Absentee Ballots for Participation in Elections
1. In cases and through the procedure stipulated by this Code, 15 – 1 days prior to the voting day a voter who will not have an opportunity to arrive at the voting premises of a given precinct, where he is included into the main or additional electoral register, shall have the right to obtain in a given precinct election commission an absentee ballot, and to participate in voting at a precinct within the okrug boundaries on which he will be on the voting day.
2. The format of an absentee ballot shall be established by the Central Election Commission.
3. A lost absentee ballot shall not be subject to restoration.
Article 39. Ballot Paper
1. In order to participate in voting, a voter shall receive a ballot paper, which shall be a document of strict accountability, whose degree of protection against forgery shall be determined by the Central Election Commission. The number of ballot papers shall not exceed the number registered voters by more than 0.5 percent.
In the elections of the President or deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh, special paper shall be used (paper with watermarks or colored paper) when producing ballot papers, or special paint.
2. The text of a ballot paper shall be approved by the respective election commissions not later than 20 calendar days prior to the voting day. The text of a ballot paper shall be placed only on one of its sides.
3. A ballot paper shall contain in alphabetical order the last name, first name, patronymic, year of birth, main place of work or service (occupation) and the party that nominated each candidate.
In the conduct of voting for lists of candidates, the names of the political parties, as well as full name, year of birth, position held (occupation) of the first five candidates from lists of political parties’ candidates shall be placed on a ballot paper with an indication of an ordinal number in the order determined by random drawing by the Central Election Commission.
4. An empty square shall be placed to the right of the information on candidates or political parties’ names indicated in paragraph 3 of this Article. At the end of candidates’ list a line shall be inserted “Against all candidates” (“Against all lists of candidates”) with an empty square to the right of that line.
5. Ballot papers shall be printed in the Kyrgyz and Russian languages no later than 10 calendar days prior to voting. Each ballot paper must contain an explanation of the procedure on how to fill it out.
6. A ballot paper shall contain the name of the body to which candidates are elected, and the name and number of the electoral district, or an indication of the single electoral district.
7. In case of defects, a given print shop shall transfer the defective ballot papers to members of the election commission having ordered the printing in accordance with a written statement. After the transfer in the presence of no less than 3 election commission members and invited print house representatives, and law enforcement bodies, the defective and extra ballot papers shall be destroyed, after which a recorded document shall be made and signed by all present.
8. Election commissions shall transfer ballot papers to subordinate election commissions, all the way down to precinct election commissions in accordance with a written statement. Chairmen of respective election commissions shall be responsible for the accurate transfer of ballot papers.
9. The transfer of ballot papers to the relevant election commissions shall be carried out 10 calendar days prior to voting, and 5 calendar days in case of second-time voting, and to precinct election commissions 2 – 1 days prior to voting. The number of ballot papers transferred to a precinct election commission may not exceed the number of voters included into the main electoral register in a given precinct as of the day of ballot papers’ transfer by more than 0.5 percent.
Members of a superior election commission, as well as representatives of candidates, political parties, non-commercial and mass media organizations, shall have the right to be present at the act of transfer of ballot papers by a superior (okrug) election commission to a precinct election commission in accordance with a written statement and in the presence of no less than half of the members of a given superior (okrug) election commission. Upon the receipt of ballot papers, members of a given precinct election commission, in its premises, shall recount ballot papers in the presence of candidates’ or political parties’ representatives. With regard to this, a written record shall be drawn up and signed by all people present. A chairman of a given precinct election commission shall affix its stamp in the appropriate place of a ballot paper in the presence of not less than half of that precinct election commission members, as well as representatives of candidates or political parties.
10. Upon decisions of okrug election commissions, in case of withdrawal of some candidates or lists of candidates after ballot paper have been made, precinct and superior (okrug) election commissions shall strike out information in ballot papers on the respective candidates or lists of candidates. The striking out shall be done with a straight line on all lines of information on a given candidate or political party and only with a ballpoint pen. In this regard, a crossing line shall extend to the empty square opposite the line with a given candidate’s or political party’s information.
11. The premises in which a special safe box is located, where ballot papers, electoral registers, other electoral documents and the seal of the respective election commission are kept, shall be sealed and transferred to the internal affairs bodies for safekeeping.
Article 40. The Voting Procedure
1. In elections, voting shall be carried out on a calendar day-off, starting from 8:00 till 20:00 hours. Precinct election commissions shall be obligated to notify voters of the time and place of voting no later than 10 calendar days prior to voting through the mass media or another method, and in case of early or second-time voting – not later than 7 calendar days prior to voting.
On the voting day, a precinct election commission at its meeting at the polling station at 7:00 am shall determine its members with a decisive vote by random drawing of lots. The latter shall:
- perform registration of citizens in the main or additional electoral registers;
- mark (stamp) voters with a special device and issue them ballot papers;
- carry out supervision of the voters’ entrance to the polling booths for secret ballot and of the dropping of folded ballot papers into polling boxes;
- check with special equipment the presence of a marking (stamp) on each voter;
- organize voting outside the polling station for registered voters (with no less than 2 precinct election commission members with decisive votes).
The chairman and secretary of a precinct election commission shall not participate in voting.
In the presence of precinct election commission members, representatives of candidates or political parties, and observers, the chairman of a given precinct election commission shall open the sealed safe box, which contains the voters’ list of that precinct, ballot papers and the seal of the precinct election commission; take out the main electoral register, and the additional register, if there is one, announce the number of voters included on it, give an opportunity to present parties to visually become familiarized with the electoral register, and then hand it out to precinct election commission members who are responsible for voters’ registration and keeping a list of voters on the voting day.
The chairman of a precinct election commission shall present empty polling boxes to its members, as well present observers and representatives of candidates, political parties, and mass media organizations, which shall subsequently be sealed with a stamp of the precinct election commission. Then the chairman of a precinct election commission shall drop into the sealed polling boxes control sheets with an indication of the name of okrug, precinct number, the time of the placing of the control sheets into polling boxes, as well as the last names of the chairman, secretary and other members with decisive votes of the precinct election commission, and of present candidates, political parties, their representatives and observers. Control sheets shall be signed by those persons and certified with a seal of the precinct election commission.
The chairman of a precinct election commission shall announce the number of ballot papers received from the superior election commission. In the presence of representatives of candidates, political parties and observers, members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes shall recount and announce the number of ballot papers, after which the chairman of a precinct election commission shall present them for visual familiarization to those present and shall enter that number in line 2 of the protocol on voting results, as well as in its enlarged format. Upon the recounting of ballot papers, the chairman of a precinct election commission shall hand out 50 – 100 ballot papers in accordance with a written register to members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes, who shall sign on their receipt and bear responsibility for issuing ballot papers.
At the entrance to the polling station, one of the members of a precinct election commission with a decisive vote shall check with special equipment the presence of a mark (stamp) on the left thumb on each voter. A voter who does not have a mark (stamp) on his left thumb shall be admitted to the polling station for the receipt of a ballot paper and voting. In case a mark (stamp) is discovered on a voter’s left thumb, he shall not be admitted into the polling station. When issuing ballot papers a member of a precinct election commission with a decisive vote shall mark (stamp) voters’ left thumbs with special (invisible) ink.
In case a left thumb is absent, the marking shall be done as follows:
- the finger closest to the thumb shall be marked beginning with the index finger;
- in the absence of all fingers on the left hand, right hand fingers shall be marked in the order stipulated for the left hand;
- in the absence of fingers on both hands, a voter shall have the right to vote without marking once in one and the same elections.
When issuing ballot papers one of the members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes shall perform voters’ registration as follows: check voters’ documents, enter their details onto a list, where voters sign for the receipt of a ballot paper. Another member shall mark (stamp) voters’ right thumbs with a special ink and issue a ballot paper to them.
2. Each voter shall vote personally, it shall not be allowed to vote for others.
3. Ballot papers shall be issued to voters included into the main or additional electoral register, upon the presentation of a passport or another personal identification document, and in case of voting with an absentee ballot, or on the basis of a court’s decision, upon the presentation of those documents.
4. In the receipt of a ballot paper, a voter’s passport series and number shall be entered in the main or additional electoral registers, or a different personal identification document. A voter shall check the accuracy of the note made and shall sign in the main or additional electoral register. In case voting is carried out simultaneously with several ballot papers, a voter shall sign for each one of them. In case of voting with an absentee ballot or on the basis of a court’s decision, additional notes shall be made in the additional electoral register.
5. At precincts formed in populated areas with no more than 500 voters, a voter shall be entitled to vote in the absence of a passport or another personal identification document upon the permission of the chairman of the respective election commission, and provided that a given voter is entered into the main electoral register, and there is the confirmation of his residence on the territory of a given precinct by at least two precinct election commission members with decisive votes. In cases of voting without personal identification documents, a relevant note shall be made in the main electoral register, and shall be certified by signatures of the chairman and members with decisive votes of a given precinct election commission, who confirmed the fact of a given voter’s residence on the territory of that precinct.
6. A ballot paper shall be filled out by a voter in a specially equipped booth or another specially equipped place, in which the presence of other people shall be prohibited. A specially equipped booth or place must be mounted and made in a way that provides for the secrecy of voters’ expression of their will when filling out a ballot paper, as well as for supervision of voter’s actions by election commission members and observers.
7. A voter shall place a relevant mark in the square pertaining to a candidate or list of candidates that he chose or in the square marked “Against all candidates” (“Against all Lists of Candidates”).
In the election of local keneshes’ deputies, a voter shall place marks in a ballot paper in the squares pertaining to candidates that he chose. The number of candidates for which a voter may vote shall not exceed the number of mandates in a given constituency.
8. In case a voter thinks that he made a mistake when filling out a ballot paper, he shall have the right to appeal to an election commission member with a decisive vote, having issued the ballot paper to him, with a request to issue a new ballot paper instead of a spoiled one. An election commission member with decisive vote shall issue a new ballot paper and make the relevant note in the electoral register against the last name of a given voter. A spoiled ballot paper shall be cancelled with the drafting of a relevant document on that.
9. A voter who does not have an opportunity to sign independently for the receipt of a ballot paper to fill it out, shall have the right to use the help of another voter, who is not an election commission member, candidate, representative of a candidate or political party, or an observer. In this case a given voter shall verbally notify the election commission on his intent to use the help of another person.
10. Filled out folded ballot papers shall be placed by voters into the sealed polling boxes. It shall be prohibited to carry a ballot paper out of the polling station.
11. The chairman of a precinct election commission shall maintain order in the polling station. In case of violation of public order in the polling station, he shall have the right to ask for assistance from the employees of law enforcement bodies for the purposes of restoring order, which after order is restored, shall leave the polling station. Directions of the chairman of a precinct election commission shall be obligatory, which are made within the bounds of his authority and do not violate the rights of election campaign members, and shall be followed by all those present at the polling station. In the absence of the chairman, his authority shall be transferred to the secretary of another authorized member of a given commission.
12. A precinct election commission member shall be immediately withdrawn from participation in its work, and observers and other people shall be removed from the polling station, if they are trying to interfere with the work of a given election commission or with the exercise by a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic of his election rights, or with the secrecy of voting. Decisions concerning that shall be made by a given election commission in writing. In this regard, the commission shall have the right to appeal to relevant bodies with a proposal to hold the above-named persons liable as stipulated by legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.
13. It shall be prohibited for candidates and representatives of candidates or political parties to undertake actions directed at the delivery (transport) of voters for their participation in voting, as well as for other physical persons or legal entities acting upon the former’s request.
14. State and local administration bodies, and state and municipal enterprises and establishments, as well as their officials, shall be obligated to provide for public safety on the day of voting, as well uninterrupted work of public transportation, and means of communication, electricity and heating for polling stations.
Article 41. The Procedure for Early Voting
1. A voter (a citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic leaving its territory, employees of internal affairs bodies who ensure public order on the voting day, military servicemen who are being on duty outside the location of their military unit, and election commission members with decisive votes), not able to arrive on the voting day at the precinct at which he is included into the main or additional electoral registers, shall have the right to vote in advance on the basis of his written statement concerning his absence from the territory of a given precinct on the voting day in relation to him leaving the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic or for other reasons established by this Code, as well as upon the presentation of the relevant documents (a copy of a business trip certificate, air ticket, visa in the passport, a copy of an order from internal affairs bodies, copy of military unit commander’s order, a copy of an election commission member certificate or a copy of a decision on the election as an election commission member), by way of filling out a ballot paper in the premises of the respective superior election commission 9 – 1 days prior to the voting day.
2. Information on a citizen having voted in advance shall be entered into a list of early voters compiled by the relevant election commission. A voter shall check the accuracy of the note made, shall sign on that list and receive a ballot paper and a clean empty envelope in the presence of not less than two election commission members with decisive votes.
3. A voter shall fill out a ballot paper in a specially equipped booth or a special place where the presence of other people shall not be allowed. They shall be located in such a place as to ensure the secrecy of voting and the supervision of the voter’s actions by election commission members.
4. A ballot paper filled out by an early voter shall be placed into an envelope and sealed. In the place of sealing, two election commission members with decisive votes shall place their signatures, which shall be certified with the stamp of a given election commission, as well as the signature of a given early voter.
5. Sealed envelopes with ballot papers and the list of early voters shall be kept by the secretary of a given election commission in its premises until the moment of their transfer to the respective precinct election commission.
6. On the voting day, in the presence of precinct election commission members, observers or other persons, the chairman of a precinct election commission shall announce the number of early voters before voting begins. He shall also present sealed envelopes for visual familiarization, as well as the list of early voters certified by the signature of the secretary and the stamp of the respective superior election commission. After that he shall open each envelope one by on, and, observing the secrecy of voting, shall place the ballot papers into the stationary polling box. Before voting begins the number of early voters shall be entered into the protocol on voting results and its enlarged format. In the main or additional electoral registers of early voters a note shall be made “Voted in advance” against the last name of a given voter.
Article 42. Procedure for Voting Outside the Polling Stations
1. Voters who are included into electoral registers, but due to health conditions of disability are unable to arrive at a given precinct for voting, voters who are in hospitals, sanatoriums, recreation houses, pre-trial detention houses and temporary detention places, voters temporarily residing in distant and hard-to-access locations, at remote pastoral grazing areas, shall vote in the place of their stay provided that they permanently reside on the territory of an electoral district which includes places of their temporary stay. In exceptional cases, upon a decision of the respective election commission, the same provision shall apply to military servicemen being on the voting day on duty in military units located in remote distant areas. Precinct election commissions shall be obligated to provide such voters with an opportunity to vote outside the polling stations.
2. Voting outside the polling stations shall be organized only on the voting day and only on the basis of a voter’s written statement or verbal appeal (including the one communicated with the help of others) to provide him with an opportunity to vote outside the polling station. A voter’s statement (appeal) may be made at any time after the formation of a given precinct election commission, but no later than 18:00 hours of the day preceding the voting day. A precinct election commission shall register all submitted statements (appeals) in a special register. In such a statement, a reason must be indicated due to which a voter is not able to arrive at the polling station, as well as information on that voter. In the registration of a verbal statement, the time of its receipt shall be indicated, certified by the signature of a given election commission member with a decisive vote who accepted the statement.
3. A precinct election commission must have at its disposal the necessary number, but no more than three portable polling boxes. Voting outside the polling stations shall be conducted by not less than two precinct election commission members with decisive votes, who shall be issued the necessary number of paper ballots against their signature, as well as preliminarily sealed portable polling boxes. Voting outside the polling stations shall be conducted in the presence of not less than two representatives of candidates or political parties, or observers.
4. Upon the arrival of election commission members to a given voter, a verbal statement shall be confirmed by a written application of a given voter. In a written application a voter shall indicate the series and number of his passport or another personal identification document, and shall certify with his signature the receipt of a ballot paper. Election commission members with decisive votes shall certify the fact of a ballot paper issuance with their signatures on the application.
5. A ballot paper shall be filled out by a voter in a special place where the presence of other people shall not be allowed. A special place shall be chosen in such as way as to ensure the secrecy of voters’ expression of their will when they fill out ballot papers, and the supervision of voters’ actions by election commission members and observers.
6. If a voter submitted a statement (application) to be provided with an opportunity to vote outside the polling station, later arrived at the voting premises of the precinct election commission, but after precinct election commission members had already been sent to him, a respective precinct election commission member shall not have the right to issue a ballot paper to him at the polling station until the election commission members return who are organizing voting outside the polling station, and until it is established that the said voter did not already vote outside the polling station.
7. Series and number of a passport or another personal identification document of a citizen who voted outside the polling station shall be entered into the main or additional electoral register, with the simultaneous entry of the note “Voted outside the polling station” in the relevant column of the electoral register.
Chapter VIII
DETERMINATION OF ELECTION RESULTS
Article 43. Protocol of a Precinct Election Commission on the Results of Voting
1. A precinct election commission shall draw up a protocol on the results of voting at a given precinct. In case such a protocol is drawn up on more than one sheet of paper, each sheet must be numbered and signed by all present precinct election commission members with decisive votes, as well as stamped with the commission’s seal.
2. A precinct election commission’s protocol on the results of voting must contain the following:
a) the number of a given copy;
b) indication of the level of elections;
c) the word “Protocol”;
d) the name of an election commission with an indication of the precinct’s number;
e) lines of the protocol as follows:
line 1: the number of voters entered into the main electoral register as of the moment the voting ended;
line 1a: the number of voters entered into the additional electoral register;
line 2: the number of ballot papers received by a given precinct election commission;
line 3: the number of ballot papers issued to early voters;
line 4: the number of ballot papers issued to voters at the polling station on the voting day;
line 5: the number of ballot papers issued to voters who voted outside the polling station on the voting day;
line 6: the total number of voters who participated in elections;
line 7: the number of canceled ballot papers;
line 8: the number of ballot papers contained in portable polling boxes;
line 9: the number of ballot papers contained in stationary polling boxes;
line 10: the number of valid ballot papers;
line 11: the number of invalid ballot papers;
line 12: the total number of voters who participated in voting;
line 13: last and first names and patronymics of candidates, names of political parties (in the order indicated on a given ballot paper) and the number of votes taken for each candidate or list of candidates;
line 14: the number of votes taken for the position “Against all candidates” (“Against all lists of candidates”).
A protocol on the results of voting shall also include the following:
line 15: the number of absentee ballots for voting received by a given election commission;
line 15a: the number of absentee ballots for voting issued by a given election commission to voters at a given precinct prior to the voting day;
line 15b: the number of citizens who voted at a given precinct with an absentee ballot;
line 15c: the number of unused (canceled) absentee ballots at a given precinct;
line 16: the number of lost ballot papers;
line 17: the number of ballot papers exceeding the received number of ballot papers;
f) the list of complaints (statements), acts and other documents attached to the protocol, and decisions on the precinct election commission regarding them, as well as a list of special opinions of election commission members with decisive vote, who disagreed with the content of the protocol, if there are any;
g) last name and initials of the chairman, secretary and other members of a given precinct election commission with decisive votes and their signatures;
h) the date and time of signing the protocol;
i) the seal of a given precinct election commission.
3. Numbers indicated in the second part of this Article shall be entered into the protocol on the voting results in both digital and word forms. The protocol on the voting results shall be filled our only in ink.
4. Lines of protocols of all superior election commissions must correspond to lines in the protocols of precinct election commissions, as well as to data stipulated in paragraph 2 of Article 45 and paragraph 2 of Article 46 of this Code.
5. Data from the protocol of an election commission on the voting results on a respective territory, on the results of elections in a given okrug, filled out by hand, and data from the protocol received with the help of an electronic information system “Shailoo” and signed by election commission members with an indication of the time and date of signing, must correspond to each other.
6. A superior election commission shall ensure that blank forms of election commissions’ protocols on the voting results are made in two copies, plus one copy for each of the candidates or political party having nominated a registered list of candidates, as well as one copy of the enlarged format of the protocol to be displayed in the premises of a given election commission for public familiarization.
Article 44. Procedure for Determining the Results of Voting by Precinct Election Commissions
1. After the expiration of the voting time, the chairman of a precinct election commission shall announce that only those voters may receive ballot papers and vote, who are already inside the polling station.
2. Vote counting shall be performed openly and publicly, exclusively by members of the election commission with decisive votes at its meeting, with an announcement of voting results and their subsequent formulation in the protocol, as well as its enlarged format (which shall be displayed in a place established by a given election commission). Vote counting shall be performed sequentially, reflecting the counting results of all types of voting, counting of ballot papers and votes taken.
Representatives of candidates or political parties, as well as the mass media, may use photographing, movie- or video recording the process of vote counting and the establishment of voting results.
3. Counting of votes shall begin right after the termination of the voting process and shall continue until the voting results are established in the same premises where voting took place. The place where the vote counting is carried out directly shall be equipped in such a way that all precinct election commission members have access to that place, both for those with decisive and advisory votes. In this regard, full visual observation must be provided for members of a given precinct election commission and other people present at the counting.
In case different level elections are combined, in the first place vote counting shall be done in the elections for the President, then deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh, and then deputies of local keneshes.
Except for the chairman and the secretary of a precinct election commission, its other members shall be prohibited to use writing accessories in the process of vote counting.
4. Precinct election commission members with decisive votes, who are responsible for the issue of ballot papers, shall count the remaining unused ballot papers, cancel them by way of cutting the right lower corner (it shall not be allowed to damage the squares located to the right of the information on registered candidates or lists of candidates) and shall submit it to the chairman of their precinct election commission in accordance with a written list. A written statement shall be drawn up reflecting this action. In the same way, unused ballot papers shall be canceled which remained in the safe box of a given precinct election commission. All canceled ballot papers shall be counted and packed into a package, which shall be sealed with the stamp of a precinct election commission and its members’ signatures. On the package a note shall be made “canceled ballot papers”, and their number shall be indicated, as well as the number of a given precinct.
The total number of all canceled ballot papers, which shall be defined as a sum of numbers of unused ballot papers and those returned by voters as damaged, shall be announced and entered on line 7 of the protocol on voting results and its enlarged format.
After that, the number of unused (canceled) absentee ballots shall be counted, announced, and entered on line 15c of the protocol on voting results and its enlarged format.
5. Before direct vote counting, precinct election commission members with decisive votes responsible for voters’ registration shall be obligated to enter on every page of an electoral register the following summarized data:
a) the number of voters entered into the electoral register as of the moment of the voting ended (without taking into account voters who were issued absentee ballots, as well as those withdrawn for other reasons);
b) the number of ballot papers issued to voters at the polling station on the voting day (which shall be determined by the number of voters’ signatures in the main and additional electoral registers);
c) the number of ballot papers issued to early voters (which shall be determined by the number of respective notes in the electoral register and checked by the list of citizens having voted in advance);
d) the number of ballot papers issued to citizens having voted outside the polling station on the voting day (which shall be determined by the number of the respective notes in the electoral register);
e) the number of absentee ballots issued to voters at a given precinct (which shall be determined by the number of notes in the electoral register);
f) the number of citizens who voted on the basis of absentee ballots and court’s decisions at a given precinct (which shall be established by the number of voters’ signatures in the additional electoral register and checked against the number of absentee ballots received from voters);
Upon the entry of this data, every page of the electoral register shall be signed by a given precinct election commission member with a decisive vote, who later shall summarize them and transfer to the commission’s chairman. The chairman and secretary of a precinct election commission shall enter on the last page the summarized data determined as the sum of data on every page of the electoral register, and then shall certify them with their signature and the seal of a given precinct election commission.
After performing the work with the electoral register, the chairman of a given precinct election commission shall offer to those present an opportunity to visually familiarize themselves with it, shall announce all the data from the electoral register, and enter those data into the relevant lines of the protocol on the voting results and its enlarged format as follows:
a) in line 1 – the number of voters entered into the main electoral register as of the moment the voting ended;
b) in line 1a – the number of voters entered into the additional electoral register;
c) in line 3 – the total number of ballot papers issued to voters who voted in advance;
d) in line 4 – the number of ballot papers issued to voters inside the polling station;
e) in line 5 – the number of ballot papers issued to citizens having voted outside the polling station on the voting day;
f) in line 6 – the total number of voters having participated in elections (to be determined as the sum of numbers in lines 3, 4 and 5);
g) in line 15 – the number of absentee ballots received by a given precinct election commission, which is determined by the relevant act;
h) in line 15a – the number of absentee ballots issued by a given precinct election commission to voters at the precinct;
i) in line 15b – the number of citizens having voted on the basis of absentee ballots at the precinct.
After that, the electoral register(s) shall be put into a safe box.
6. A precinct election commission shall start the counting of ballot papers contained in portable polling boxes. Members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes, who conducted voting outside the polling station, shall demonstrate the integrity of the seals and stamps, and then shall open polling boxes one by one, then take out ballot papers and control sheets with signatures of the precinct election commission members and of people present in the morning when sealing and stamping the polling boxes. The chairman shall demonstrate the control sheets.
The opening of each portable polling box shall be preceded by the announcement of the number of citizens who voted with the use of that polling box. The counting of ballot papers in each polling box shall be done separately. The total number of ballot papers of the established form, extracted from all portable polling boxes, shall be entered on line 8 of the protocol on the results of voting and its enlarged format.
If it has been established that the number of ballot papers in a given portable polling box is greater than the number of voters’ statements containing a note on the number of received ballot papers, then all ballot papers from that portable polling box shall be recognized as invalid by a decision of a given precinct election commission, and shall be canceled by cutting the right lower corner. In this regard, a separate act shall be drawn up and attached to the protocol on the voting results, in which the last names and initials shall be indicated of election commission members with decisive votes having performed voting outside the polling station. These invalid ballot papers shall be packed separately and sealed, with an indication of the precinct number on the package and a note “invalid ballot papers extracted from a portable polling box”, the number of that box and the number of ballot papers.
7. Ballot papers that are not in conformity with the established form shall not be taken into account. Ballot papers shall be recognized as not being in conformity with the established form, if their content and (or) format do not correspond to the text and format of a given ballot paper approved through the procedure stipulated by Article 39 of this Code.
8. The chairman of a precinct election commission shall announce the beginning of the counting of ballot papers contained in the stationary polling box. He shall demonstrate the integrity of the seal (stamp) and open the box. Members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes shall extract ballot papers and the control sheet with signatures of precinct election commission members and other people present in the morning in the process of sealing the polling boxes. The precinct election commission chairman shall demonstrate the control sheet.
9. Members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes shall sort ballot papers extracted from portable and stationary polling boxes in accordance to votes taken for each candidate or list of candidates, “Against all candidates” (“Against all lists of candidates”), and simultaneously separate ballot papers not in conformity with the established form and invalid ballot papers. When sorting ballot papers, members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes shall announce notes made by voters on ballot papers and present them for visual observation of all people present at counting.
In elections in a multi-member electoral district, sorting of ballot papers by candidates shall not be performed.
10. Representatives of candidates or political parties and observers shall have the right to familiarize themselves with sorted ballot papers under the supervision of members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes.
11. Then with regard to ballot papers in the established form, the counting shall be performed individually by votes taken for each candidate, or list of candidates, and the position “Against all candidates” (“Against all lists of candidates”). The counting of sorted ballot papers shall be done aloud by their transfer one by one from one pile to anther in such a way that people present at the counting would be able to hear or see a voter’s mark on the ballot paper. Simultaneous counting of ballot papers from different piles shall not be allowed. Data obtained from the relevant marks of voters (votes) in ballot papers taken for each candidate, list of candidates, and the position “Against all candidates” (“Against all lists of candidates”) shall be entered on lines 13 and 14 of the protocol on the voting results and its enlarged format.
In elections in a multimember electoral district, the counting of votes on each ballot paper shall be performed by not less than two members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes.
12. Invalid ballot papers shall be counted and summed up separately. Ballot papers shall be recognized as invalid, in which it is impossible to determine a given voter’s will, as well as invalid ballot papers extracted from a portable polling box (if a case was established of the number of ballot papers in the box exceeding the number of voters’ statements on the ballot papers received). Ballot papers shall also be recognized as invalid, in which there are no protective marks made as established by the Central Election Commission, no certifying stamp of a given precinct election commission, or no other established necessary marks. Ballot papers shall be recognized as invalid, in which the number of marks for candidates exceeds the number of mandates in a given electoral district, or, in elections under the proportional representation system, the number of marks for lists of candidates in more than one list.
In case of doubt, if a given ballot paper should be recognized as invalid, a given precinct election commission shall decide the issue by way of voting. In this regard, on the opposite side of a ballot paper reasons shall be indicated for its recognition as invalid, which shall be certified by signatures of the commission’s chairman and secretary and by its stamp. The total number of invalid ballot papers shall be entered on line 11 of the protocol on the voting results and its enlarged format.
13. Members of a precinct election commission with decisive votes shall count and announce the number of valid ballot papers to be determined by voters’ marks that make it possible to establish a given voter’s will, and shall enter that number on line 10 of the protocol on the voting results and its enlarged format.
On line 12 of the protocol on the voting results and its enlarged format, the number shall be entered of citizens having participated in voting (to be determined as a sum of numbers from lines 10 and 11 of the protocol on the voting results).
The number of ballot papers contained in the stationary polling box shall be entered on line 9 of the said protocol and its enlarged format.
14. The chairman of a precinct election commission shall offer to all parties present at the vote counting an opportunity to familiarize themselves visually with ballot papers under the supervision of election commission members with decisive votes. Upon a demand from a candidate’s or political party’s representative or an observer to perform the recounting of votes, ballot papers shall be recounted with direct participation of a given candidate’s or political party’s representative or an observer, providing them with an opportunity of visual supervision. In this regard recounting of ballot papers shall be carried out aloud.
15. After that, a review shall be done of the controlling ratios of data entered into the protocol on the voting results. In case they are not in conformity with controlling ratios, a given precinct election commission shall make a decision on repeated counting in all or some of the lines of the protocol in the presence of candidates’ or political parties’ representatives or observers. If, as a result of repeated counting with regard to lines 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the protocol, controlling ratios do not coincide again, a given precinct election commission shall compose a relevant act to be attached to the protocol on the voting results, and shall enter information on the discrepancies on special lines of the protocol as follows: on line 16 “The number of lost ballot papers” and line 17 “The number of ballot papers exceeding the received number of ballot papers”.
If the number indicated on line 2 of the protocol is greater than the sum of numbers indicated on lines 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the protocol, then the difference between the number on line 2 and the sum of numbers on lines 3, 4, 5 and 7 shall be entered on line 16, and on line 17 the digit “0” shall be entered. If the sum of numbers indicated on lines 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the protocol is greater than the number indicated on line 2, then the difference between the sum of numbers on lines 3, 4, 5 and 7 shall be entered and the number on line 2 shall be entered on line 17, and on line 16 the digit “0” shall be entered.
If controlling ratios coincide on lines 16 and 17 the digit “0” shall be entered.
If, as a result of repeated counting a necessity arose to introduce changes into the protocol on the voting results, a new blank form of the protocol shall be used, and in its enlarged format relevant changes shall be entered. In this regard the old protocol form shall contain a note “Erroneous”.
16. Upon the completion of vote counting, a given precinct election commission shall be obligated to hold a final meeting, at which it shall consider complaints (statements) on violations during voting and vote counting, and make decisions on each one of them, after which precinct election commission members and statement bearers who agreed with decisions reached with regard to their complaints (statements), shall sign the protocol of the final meeting of a given precinct election commission. Its members who disagree with the protocol’s content shall have the right to attach their special opinion to it, with the respective note of that being made in the protocol.
After the compilation of the protocol on the voting results, sorted ballot papers and electoral registers shall be packed into separate packets, on which the precinct number shall be indicated, as well as the number of ballot papers and names of electoral registers. Packets shall be sealed, signed by precinct election commission members and placed in a separate bag or a box. On the bag of box, the number of a given precinct shall be indicated and the list of documents contained in it. Such a bag or box shall be sealed, and signatures of precinct election commission members shall be placed on it. Packing of ballot papers, electoral registers, as well as their placement in a bag or a box shall be done in the presence of representatives of candidates or political parties, and observers, who shall also be given an opportunity to put their signatures on a given bag or box. A packet, bag or box may be open only upon the decision of a superior election commission or a court.
17. The protocol on the voting results shall be made in two copies, plus one copy for each of the candidates or political party having nominated a registered list of candidates, and shall be signed by all present members of a given precinct election commission with an indication of the date and time (hours and minutes) of its singing. The protocol shall be valid if it is signed by the majority of the members of a given precinct election commission with decisive votes. When signing it, precinct election commission members with decisive votes who disagree with the content of the protocol shall have the right to attach their special opinion to it. In this regard a relevant note shall be made in the protocol.
18. After signing the protocol on voting results by a given precinct election commission, they shall be immediately announced in front of all present precinct election commission members, representatives of candidates or political parties, and the mass media representatives or other people.
19. After its signing the first copy of the protocol on the voting results together with other election documents, including ballot papers, electoral registers, complaints (statements), decisions reached on them, and acts drawn up by the precinct election commission, shall be immediately delivered to its superior election commission by the chairman or one of the members of the precinct election commission with decisive votes, accompanied by representatives of candidates or political parties which were present at the counting.
20. The second copy of the protocol as well as the stamp of a given precinct election commission shall be kept by its secretary, who shall bear responsibility stipulated by legislation for their authenticity and safe custody until the end of the commission’s work.
21. Other copies of the protocol shall be issued to representatives of candidates or political parties having registered lists of candidates against their signature.
22. The enlarged format of the protocol on the voting results shall be displayed for general public familiarization in a place designated by the precinct election commission and shall be kept until the end of the commission’s work.
23. After the protocol’s signing, upon a request from any interested party, a precinct election commission shall be obligated to issue them a copy, or provide them with an opportunity to make a copy, as well as to certify it.
Article 45. The Procedure for Summarizing the Voting Results by Superior Election Commissions
1. Immediately after their signing by precinct election commission members, first copies of the protocols on voting results, together with electoral documents indicated in paragraph 19 of Article 44 of this Code, shall be transferred in accordance with a written statement to a superior election commission, which shall summarize the voting results on the respective territory.
In case an electronic information system is used in the course of elections, after the preliminary review of the protocol of a precinct election commission and the entrance of data into the State Electronic System “Shailoo”, an act shall be composed on the correspondence of data entered into the State Electronic System “Shailoo” to data of the first copy of the protocol of a precinct election commission, which shall be signed by its chairman or secretary having delivered the protocols of the voting results, as well as members of the group for supervision of the use of the electronic system, and the person responsible for the entrance of data, with an indication of the date and time of the act’s compilation. A copy of this act shall be issued to the chairman (secretary) of a given precinct election commission.
2. An election commission shall perform the summarizing of voting results on a respective territory, which is vested with this right by the present Code, on the basis of protocols received from precinct election commissions by way of adding up data contained in them.
3. After preliminary review of the accuracy of protocols’ compilation by precinct election commissions, a given election commission shall summarize the results of voting on its respective territory by way of summing up data from all precinct election commissions. With regard to voting results a relevant election commission shall compose a summary table and a protocol, which shall contain data on the number of precinct election commissions, the number of received protocols, as well as summary data on every line of protocols from precinct election commissions.
Before signing the protocol on voting results on its respective territory, a given election commission shall be obligated to hold its final meeting, at which it shall consider received complaints (statements) concerning the conduct of voting, vote counting and the compilation of protocols by subordinate election commissions. With regard to each complaint (statement) a given election commission shall make a decision, after which election commission members and applicants, having agreed with the decisions reached, shall sign a protocol of the election commission’s final meeting. When signing the final protocol, election commission members who disagree with its content shall have the right to attach to it their special opinion, on which a relevant note shall be made in the final protocol. After that, a given election commission shall sign the protocol on the voting results on its respective territory.
3. Protocols on voting results shall be composed by election commissions in two copies, plus one copy for each candidate or political party having registered a list of candidates, and shall be signed by all present election commission members. A summary table on the voting results on the respective territory made in two copies shall be attached to the protocols, as well as the special opinion of election commission members, and received complaints (statements) and decisions reached on them.
4. Immediately after its signing, the first copy of the protocol shall be sent to a superior election commission together with the first copy of the summary table.
5. The second copy of the protocol shall be kept by the secretary of the above-named commission together with all electoral documents in guarded premises until their transfer to the archives.
6. Other copies of the protocols shall be issued to representatives of candidates or political parties having registered a list of candidates against their signatures in the presence of election commission members.
7. The enlarged copy of a protocol on the voting results shall be displayed for public familiarization in a place designated by the relevant election commission, and shall be kept until the end of that commission’s work.
8. In case a given election commission discovered inaccuracy in the protocol on the voting results and (or) a summary table after their first copies had been signed and transferred to a superior election commission, the former shall have the right to consider the issue at its meeting on the introduction of corrections to the protocol and (or) summary table. A given election commission shall be obligated to inform regarding this decision all its members, observers, and other people present at the compilation of an earlier approved protocol, as well as representatives of the mass media. In this case the later protocol shall contain the note “Repeated” on it. This protocol shall be immediately sent to a superior election commission.
9. In case errors or inaccuracies are discovered in protocols and (or) summary tables on the voting results, or in case of doubt concerning the accuracy of the compilation of protocols received from subordinate election commissions, a superior election commission shall have the right to reach a decision on the repeated vote counting. Repeated vote counting shall be performed with the obligatory presence of a member (members) from the superior election commission with decisive votes and advisory votes. Representatives of candidates or political parties and observers shall have the right to be present at repeated vote counting. With regard to results of repeated vote counting, a given election commission shall compose a new protocol, on which a note shall be made “Repeated vote counting,” to be immediately delivered to superior election commission.
10. A respective superior (okrug) election commission shall recognize the results of voting in a given precinct as invalid in the following cases:
a) if violations of this Code took place during voting, vote counting or determination of voting results, which do not make it possible to establish the results of voting with reliability;
b) if violations of this Code took place during voting, vote counting or determination of voting results, which influenced the expression of voters’ will;
c) upon a decision of the Central Election Commission on the basis and through the procedure established by this Code;
d) upon a court’s decision on the basis and through the procedure established by this Code.
11. If a candidate, candidate’s or political party’s representatives and observers present during the process of determination of voting results did not have any objections with regard to the process of voting, vote counting, compilation of the protocol on voting results, or establishment of voting results, and this was reflected in the protocol of the final meeting of the relevant election commission and certified by their signatures, but later submitted statements and (or) complaints with regard to the above-mentioned reasons, then in this case their statement and complaints may not serve a basis for recognition of the voting results as invalid.
Article 46. The Procedure for Determination of Results of Elections
1. The results of elections shall be determined by the relevant okrug election commission vested with this authority by the present Code on the basis of protocols received directly from subordinate election commissions by way of summing up data contained in them. In this regard, an okrug election commission determining the results of elections shall be guided by the requirements established in Article 45 of this Code.
A respective okrug election commission shall be obligated to hold its final meeting, at which it shall consider all received complaints (statements) on the violations in the course of preparation and conduct of elections, and shall reach decisions on each one of them.
2. A respective okrug election commission shall compose a protocol on results of elections, in which data shall be entered from received protocols, on the basis on which elections’ results shall be determined and data on the number of directly subordinated election commissions, as well as a consolidated table using the summary date of the protocols of subordinate election commissions.
3. Elections shall be recognized as invalid by a respective election commission in the following cases:
- if the number of voters having participated is less than the number established by the Special Part of this Code;
- if the number of votes taken for a given candidate (candidates), who collected the majority of votes as compared to another candidate (candidates), is less than the number of votes taken against all candidates. In this case repeated elections shall be held, at which previous candidates may not be nominated to elected positions;
- if no one list of candidates received the number of votes necessary in order to participate in the distribution of mandates;
- if the number of votes taken for a list of candidates, that collected the majority of votes as compared to other lists of candidates, is less than the number of votes taken against all lists of candidates. In this case repeated elections shall be held, at which previous candidates may not be nominated to elected positions, included in the above-named lists of candidates.
The number of voters having participated in elections shall be determined according to the number of voters’ signatures against the receipt of ballot papers in the main and additional electoral registers.
The number of voters having participated in voting shall be determined according to the number of ballot papers in the established form retrieved from the polling boxes.
4. A respective election commission shall recognize the voting results at a precinct as invalid in the following cases:
a) if violations of this Code took place during voting, vote counting or determination of voting results, which do not make it possible to establish the results of voting with reliability;
b) if violations of this Code took place during voting, vote counting or determination of voting results, which considerably influenced the expression of voters’ will;
c) upon a decision of a superior election commission on the basis and through the procedure established by this Code;
d) upon a court’s decision on the basis and through the procedure established by this Code.
In case the results of voting at a given precinct are recognized as invalid, the results of an election in a given okrug shall be determined by voting results at the remaining precincts. In case the results of voting at a given precinct (precincts) are recognized as invalid, which influence the results of elections, repeated voting shall be conducted at the above-named precinct (precincts) within two weeks from the day of its appointment by the respective election commission.
5. Violations that make it impossible to establish voting results with reliability shall mean violations of the provisions of this Code that affected the procedure for voting, vote counting, and compilation of the protocol on voting results at a given precinct, which do not permit verifiably to determine the number of votes taken for each candidate or list of candidates.
Violations that considerably influenced voters’ expression of will shall mean violations of the provisions of this Code that affected citizens’ expression of their will in the course of voting, vote counting, and the determination of voting results at a given precinct, and which are associated with campaigning on the voting day, creation of impediments for the citizens’ exercise of their voting rights, for voting supervision, as well as associated with voting for other citizens, and interference with the work of election commissions, the transport delivery of voters to a given precinct by a candidate, his close relatives, representatives of a candidate or political party, and bribery of voters.
6. A respective election commission shall recognize the results of elections as invalid in the following cases:
a) if the voting results at precincts are recognized as invalid, which account for more than one third of total number of registered voters included into electoral registers;
b) upon a decision of a superior election commission on the basis and through the procedure established by the present Code;
c) upon a court’s decision on the basis and through the procedure established by the present Code.
7. In case a candidate, a candidate’s or political party’s representatives, and observers, who were present at the determination of voting results and elections’ outcome, did not have any objections with regard to the process of voting, determination of voting results, compilation of the protocol on the voting results and election results, and this fact was noted in the protocol of the final meeting of the respective election commission and certified by their signatures, but later they filed statements and complaints concerning the above-named actions, then their statements and complaints may not serve as a basis for the recognition of results of voting and elections’ outcome as invalid.
Article 47. Repeated Elections
1. In case elections are recognized as invalid, and a candidate was not elected as a result of voting, repeated elections shall be announced. Except for cases stipulated by the Special Part of this Code, repeated elections shall be announced by the Central Election Commission within one month and held by respective election commissions. Nomination and registration of candidates or lists of candidates, and other actions, including the time periods for the performing of election actions, shall be carried out through the procedure stipulated by this Code. An announcement of repeated elections shall be published in the mass media within 7 calendar days from the adoption of a given decision on the elections’ announcement.
2. In case of repeated elections, those candidates for elected positions may not be nominated again, whose actions served as a basis for the recognition of elections as invalid.
3. In a case in which decisions or actions (failure to act) of officials of state and local administration bodies, or of election commissions, served as a basis for the recognition of the outcome and (or) results of elections as invalid, repeated elections shall be conducted among the candidates or political parties which participated in elections and expressed a desire to participate in repeated elections.
Article 48. The Publication of Voting Results and the Outcome of Elections
1. Upon a demand from voters, candidates, representatives of candidates or political parties, observers, international observers, or mass media representatives, they shall be provided with voting results at each precinct or territory, which is covered by the activity of a given election commission, as well as with the outcome of elections in a given electoral district (okrug) within the volume of data contained in the protocol of the respective election commission and of those directly subordinated to it.
2. Within one day from the determination of elections’ results, election commissions, which performed the registration of candidates or lists of candidates, shall send the general data on the results of elections to the mass media organizations.
3. Official publication of elections’ results, as well as data on the number of votes taken for each of the candidates or list of candidates, and votes taken against all candidates or against all lists of candidates, shall be performed by a respective election commission within the time periods established by the Special Part of this Code.
4. A respective election commission shall publish data contained in the protocols on the voting results of directly subordinated election commissions, on the basis of which elections’ outcome was established, in the mass media.
Article 49. The Use of Electronic Information System “Shailoo”
1. In case an electronic information system is used in the course of elections, an election commission shall form a group consisting of members of this commission for the supervision of its use. All members of a given election commission, representatives of candidates or political parties having nominated lists of candidates, and observers, shall have the right to familiarize themselves with any information entered into the above-named electronic information system and retrieved from it.
Representatives of candidates or political parties having nominated lists of candidates may verify the accuracy and the good working condition of the electronic information system and its software.
2. From the moment voting begins until the moment of signing the protocol by the Central Election Commission, an electronic information system shall be used exclusively for the supervision of the course of and results of voting by way of data transfer from subordinate election commissions to superior election commissions.
3. During this time it shall be prohibited to transfer any data from information centers of superior election commissions to information centers of subordinate election commissions, except for signals confirming the receipt of information.
4. Data on the course and results of voting received through the electronic information system shall be considered preliminary information which does not have legal significance.
5. The protocol of an election commission kept by its secretary shall be appended with a computer printout text containing data entered into the electronic information system. The authenticity of this computer printout shall be confirmed by signatures of members of the group for supervision of the use of electronic information system and of the person responsible for the information entry.
Chapter IX
FINANCING ELECTIONS
Article 50. Financial Support of the Preparation and Conduct of Elections
1. Election commissions’ expenses on the preparation and the conduct of elections shall be made at the expense of the national budget and special funds of election commissions.
It shall not be allowed to finance elections in any form by foreign states, foreign state bodies, establishments or enterprises, other foreign legal entities, or their affiliate organizations and representations, as well as by foreign citizens, international organizations registered in the Kyrgyz Republic, and legal entities that have foreign citizens and legal entities as their members, except for financing programs for the improvement of election legislation, informational, educational, scientific-research programs, technical preparation for elections, and enhancing the voters’ legal awareness.
2. The national budget for a given financial year shall stipulate allocation of funds for the preparation and conduct of upcoming elections. Funds for the conduct of elections shall be transferred at election commissions’ disposal no later than 10 calendar days from the day elections are announced and shall be distributed by them among subordinated election commissions.
3. In case the financing of elections is not made at the expense of the national budget, as well as in case of an untimely transfer of funds to a given election commission, which is vested with authority to regulate the activity of subordinated election commissions on the preparation and conduct of elections, the above-named expenditures shall be paid at the expense of banks’ loans to be provided to a given election commission on a competitive basis. In this regard, the allowable volume of funds shall not exceed the amount indicated in the report of an election commission of a respective level on the funds’ expenditures during the preparation and conduct of similar previous elections, subject to a change of the minimum monthly salary established by law.
4. Loans received, including the accruable interest, shall be paid at the expense of the national budget by the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic, for which these loans shall be a bond of obligation, and must be returned within a time period not exceeding two years. When adopting a national budget for a year following the year in which the indicated elections occurred, it shall stipulate repayment of such loans in a separate line. Loans’ repayment shall be guaranteed by the budget by virtue of the present Code without a specific decision on the issue of guarantee.
5. The following expenses of election commissions shall be financed with the funds of the national budget:
1) payment for work (remuneration) of election commission members with decisive votes, employees of election commissions’ staff, including their accountants, as well as payments to citizens involved the work of commissions under legal contracts;
2) the cost of producing printed materials and carrying out publishing activity;
3) the cost of acquisition, delivery, and installation of equipment (including technical equipment), other material values necessary for the support of elections and authorities of election commissions;
4) the cost of providing for the means of communication used by election commissions (telephone, fax, mail, and electronic communications), and transport expenses associated with the preparation and conduct of elections;
5) the cost of delivery and storage of election documents, its preparation for transfer to the archive or destruction;
6) the cost of publication of lists of precincts, electoral districts (okrugs) with an indication of their boundaries, addresses, and membership of election commissions;
7) the cost of business trips and reimbursements of expenditures for travel of election commission members related to the undertaking of measures to organize and conduct elections;
8) the cost of providing free airtime, free printed space to candidates or political parties having nominated lists of candidates;
9) the cost of publication of election commission’s announcements in the mass media;
10) payment of per diem for the day of the elections, and the preceding day, to election commission members with decisive votes in the amount established by legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic;
11) the cost of meals on the elections’ day in the amount of per diem for election commission members with decisive votes and citizens engaged under labor contracts;
12) for other purposes associated with the conduct of elections and support for the authority and activity of election commissions.
Election commissions shall expend the funds for the preparation and conduct of elections within the allocated limits in accordance with the approved budget of expenditures. A superior election commission may pay for expenses of subordinated election commissions through a centralized procedure.
State and local administration bodies, state establishments, as well as their officials shall be obligated to render assistance to commissions in the implementation of their delegated authorities, and in particular, to offer without remuneration necessary equipment and premises with phone lines, and premises for keeping electoral documents, until their transfer to a superior election commission or the archive; and to provide guards for the provided premises and the above-mentioned documentation, as well as to provide without remuneration transport, means of communication and technical equipment.
6. No later than within 7 calendar days after the elections, respective election commissions shall submit to a superior (okrug) election commission a report on the receipt and expenditure of funds from the national budget appropriated for a given election commission for the preparation and conduct of elections. No later than within 20 calendar days after elections, respective election commissions shall submit to the Central Election Commission a report on the receipt and expenditure of funds form the national budget appropriated for a given election commission.
Financial reports of the Central Election Commission and of subordinate election commissions on the expenditure of funds appropriated for elections from the national budget shall be submitted accordingly to the President of the Kyrgyz Republic and Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic.
The election commissions’ chairmen shall dispose of monetary funds and be responsible for the compliance of financial documents to election commissions’ decisions on financial issues.
Article 51. Election Funds
1. From the moment of their nomination as candidates, and prior to the submission of documents for registration, citizens shall create their own election funds for election campaign financing. A political party having nominated a list of candidates shall create an election fund for its election campaign financing within five calendar days after the registration by an election commission of its authorized representative on financial issues in accordance with the procedure stipulated in Article 26 of this Code. In case a candidate or a list of candidates was not registered, money received by a given election fund shall be returned to organizations and persons having made contributions and transfers.
Upon their registration by an okrug election commission, candidates or political parties having nominated a list of candidates shall continue to maintain open accounts of their on election funds for election campaign financing.
Candidates, who are running as members of a list of candidates, shall not have the right to create their own election funds.
Candidates for the position of local keneshes’ deputies nominated in multimember constituencies shall have the right not to create an election fund if they are not going to use paid television, radio, or periodic printed publications for their election campaigning, or to issue campaigning printed materials, as well as if they are not going to use paid services of physical and legal entities that require material costs (financing).
2. An election fund of a candidate or political party may be created with the following types of resources:
- a given candidate’s or political party’s own funds;
- voluntary contributions of citizens and legal entities, except for persons listed in paragraph 3 of this Article.
3. It shall not be allowed to use voluntary contributions into election funds from the following:
- foreign countries, foreign state bodies, establishments and enterprises, other foreign legal entities, as well as their affiliate offices and representations, foreign citizens, international organizations registered in the Kyrgyz Republic, or legal entities that have foreign citizens and legal entities as their members;
- stateless persons;
- state and local administration bodies;
- state and municipal establishments and enterprises;
- legal entities that have a state or municipal share in their charter capital, as well as that use privileges with regard to payment of taxes, levies and other obligatory payments;
- military units, military establishments and organizations;
- law enforcement bodies and courts;
- charitable organizations;
- religious organizations;
- anonymous contributions.
Legal entities and physical persons carrying out their activity without the establishment of a legal entity, that have indebtedness to the state budget or the Social Fund of the Kyrgyz Republic shall not be allowed to contribute funds to an election fund of a given candidate or political party. A candidate or political party shall not be liable in case contributions are made by the above-named legal entities or physical persons to an election fund. In case contributions are received in the election fund of a candidate or political party from the above-named legal entities and physical persons, upon a written request from a given election commission, a bank or other financial establishment shall be obligated to transfer those contributions to the special fund of the Central Election Commission.
4. The Special Part of this Code shall establish maximum limits of contributions from a candidate’s or political party’s own resources transferred to election funds, funds allocated to a given candidate or political party, voluntary contributions from citizens and legal entities, as well as maximum limits for resources’ spending from election funds. Money received by candidates’ or political parties’ election funds shall be calculated with regard to the minimum monthly salary established by the law of the Kyrgyz Republic as of the day of the elections’ announcement. Money received in excess of the established amount shall not be subject to transfer to a given election fund and shall be returned to citizens and organizations. In this regard, expenses associated with returning the above-named funds shall be covered at the expense of citizens and organizations having contributed them.
In case of repeated voting, the total maximum amount of all expenses of a given candidate from the election fund established by the Special Part of this Code may be increased by one and a half times.
5. All monetary resources included into an election fund shall be transferred to a special account at a bank or other financial establishment. This account shall be opened by a candidate or political party upon permission from the respective election commission. Money received by election funds must be transferred only in the national currency. Earnings in the above-named accounts shall not be accrued and paid out.
6. A list of banks or other financial establishments, the procedure for opening, maintenance or the above-named accounts, as well as procedures for accounting and reporting of election funds shall be determined by the Central Election Commission upon agreement with respective banks or other financial establishments.
7. The right to dispose of election funds’ resources shall belong to candidates or political parties having established them, as well as their representatives for financial issues.
8. Election funds’ resources shall have a designated purpose. They may be used only to cover expenses associated with carrying out election campaigns.
9. Election funds’ resources may be used as follows:
- for financial support of organizational and technical measures, including those associated with collection of signatures in support of a given candidate;
- for election campaigning;
- for payment of remuneration to citizens for their performed work (rendered services) directly associated with election campaigning;
- for payment of rent for premises, equipment, transport expenses, business trip expenses, and communication services, as well as stationary and other expenses directly associated with election campaigns.
10. Citizens and legal entities shall have the right to render financial (monetary) assistance in support of the activity facilitating the election of a given candidate or list of candidates only through election funds. Except for cases stipulated by this Code, legal entities or their affiliate offices and representations, as well as physical entities, shall be prohibited to perform work (render services) or sell goods for free or at an unjustifiably lowered rates, that is directly or indirectly associated with elections.
11. Candidates or political parties shall be prohibited from the use of other monetary resources to pay for work associated with the collection of voters’ signatures, election campaigning, or other election activity, other than money from their election funds.
12. Banks or other financial establishments shall be obligated to submit to an election commission, having registered a given candidate, information on the receipt and expenditure of funds from that candidate’s or political party’s special account on a weekly basis, and within 24 hours upon a respective election commission’s request.
13. From the moment of establishment of election funds and prior to the voting day, in order to exercise supervision, a respective election commission shall send to the Central Election Commission information on the receipt and expenditures of money from election funds.
14. In a case in which a candidate’s withdrawal of his candidature, or a withdrawal of a list of candidates by a political party, or cancellation (annulment) of registration of a candidate or list of candidates, monetary resources received by respective election funds shall be subject to obligatory return to the citizens and organizations having contributed them. In this regard, expenses associated with the return of the above-named funds shall be covered by citizens or organizations having contributed them.
15. Contracts (agreements) with citizens and legal entities on the performance of certain work (rendering of services) associated with a candidate’s election campaign shall be concluded personally by a given candidate or his representative on financial issues, or by an authorized representative of a political party on financial issues. Contracts or agreements, under which payment is made from candidates’ or political parties’ special accounts, may not be concluded later than on the day preceding the day of elections.
All financial transactions, including settlements with physical persons and legal entities in special accounts, shall be terminated as of 18:00 hours on the day preceding the day of elections. All settlements between a candidate (political party) and legal entities with regard to the performance of certain work (rendering services) shall be carried out only through non-cash transactions.
16. In a case of repeated voting financial operations taking place under the special accounts of candidates, with regard to which repeated voting is carried out, these shall resume on the day repeated voting is announced and shall terminate as of 18:00 hours on the day preceding the repeated voting day.
17. No later than within 10 calendar days after the elections, candidates and political parties shall be obligated to submit to the respective election commission a report on the total amount of their funds and all the sources from which they have been gathered, as well as on all expenditures made. An election deposit shall be returned to candidates (political parties) having received the necessary number of votes, after the submission to the respective election commission of a report on the total amount of their funds and all the sources used in their creation, as well as all expenditures made.
18. Concerning money that remained in their special accounts, candidates (political parties) shall be obligated to proportionally transfer back to the accounts of organizations and entities having made donations and contributions and transfers. After the expiration of 20 calendar days after the elections, upon a written indication from a respective election commission, other funds remaining in the special account of a candidate (political party) shall be transferred by a given bank or another financial establishment to the national budget.
19. The procedure for taxation of money from election funds, voluntary donations and contributions to the above-named funds, as well as expenditures from them shall be established by laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 52. Control of Spending of Funds Allocated for the Conduct of Elections, and Candidates’ (Political Parties’) Election Funds
1. Election commissions shall exercise supervision of the procedure for establishment and spending of candidates’ (political parties’) election funds.
2. In order to control the targeted spending of funds allocated to elections commissions from the national budget for the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as to supervise the sources, correct accounting, and the use of candidates’ (political parties’) election funds and to audit their financial reports, a control audit group consisting of no more than 7 members shall be formed under the Central Election Commission. The procedure for its organization and activity shall be established by the Central Election Commission.
3. The above-named audit group shall include the following: the head of the audit group, his deputy, the election commission members appointed to the audit group, and specialists from law enforcement, financial and other state bodies, organizations and establishments. Upon an official request, no later than within 15 calendar days from the official publication of a decision on the elections’ announcement, the above-named bodies, organizations and establishments shall be obligated to send their specialists to be at the disposal of the Central Election Commission.
4. For the time of work in the audit group, the above-named specialists shall be released from their main work obligations with the retention of their place of work (official position), established salaries and other payments. They may also be paid remuneration at the expense of funds allocated for the preparation and conduct of elections.
5. The Central Election Commission shall provide organizational, legal and technical support for the activity of the audit group.
6. Upon a written request from the Central Election Commission, the audit group shall:
1) review financial reports of candidates, political parties, and subordinate election commissions;
2) request and receive information from candidates, political parties, and subordinate election commissions on all the issues within its authority;
3) supervise the compliance with the established procedures for financing, conduct of election campaigning, and implementation of other measures directly associated with the conduct of candidates’ (political parties’) election campaigns;
4) appeal to state bodies, and other organizations regardless of their forms of ownership, as well as citizens, on the issues within its authority, and request necessary information and materials associated with financial support for elections. Responses to the audit group appeals and requested materials shall be submitted within three days, and if there are five or less days left till elections – immediately;
5) compose documents on financial violations in financing elections;
6) raise the issues before the respective election commission on the application of measures to hold accountable candidates, political parties, as well as citizens and legal entities for violations committed by them during financing of election campaigns;
7) involve experts in auditing, preparation of audit reports and expert opinions.
7. When exercising its authority the audit group may use the state electronic information system “Shailoo”.
Chapter X
Guarantees of Freedom of ElectIons
Article 53. The Activity of Election Commissions and State Bodies Ensuring The Freedom of Elections
1. In preparation and conduct of elections, election commissions and the bodies of public prosecution and internal affairs, shall ensure strict compliance with the requirements of the Constitution, the present Code, and laws of the Kyrgyz Republic.
2. The voting day and the day preceding it shall be considered a working day for courts, public prosecution and internal affairs bodies, as well as for housing maintenance organizations. For banks and other financial establishments servicing special accounts of candidates’ (political parties’) election funds, the day preceding voting shall be a working day.
3. Internal affairs bodies and housing maintenance organizations shall be obligated to render assistance requested by election commissions associated with the following:
1) restoring public order when conducting voting on the territory of precincts, a well as inside polling stations in case of violations of the public order, upon an invitation from the chairman of a given election commission;
2) updating electoral registers;
3)other issues arising on the voting day in the activity of election commissions.
4. Decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of state or other bodies, their officials, and other participants in an electoral process, which violate citizens electoral rights, the requirements of this Code of legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, may be appealed to the public prosecution and internal affairs bodies, or in court.
Statements or complaints against decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of state or other bodies, their officials, and other participants in an electoral process may be filed by voters of the respective constituency, candidates, political parties, non-commercial organizations, as well as their representatives and observers. A statement or compliant must be justified and submitted together with evidence on which it is based.
5. Statements or complaints from voters of the respective constituency, candidates, political parties, or other participants in an electoral process received in the course of the preparation for elections shall be considered by public prosecution and internal affairs bodies within two days from the moment they are received, and immediately if received on the day of voting or the preceding day. In cases when facts contained in the above-named statements or complaints require additional verification, decisions on them shall be reached no later than within three days. Public prosecution and internal affairs bodies shall immediately send a copy of their adopted decision to a respective election commission.
6. In case of a refusal to consider a statement or complaint, public prosecution and internal affairs bodies shall be obligated to issue within a day a copy of their decision stating the reasons for the refusal.
Article 54. Appealing Decisions and (or) Actions (Failure to Act) of Election Commissions through the Administrative Procedure
1. Decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of election commissions and their officials, which violate citizens’ electoral rights, the requirements of this Code, and legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, may be appealed to a superior election commission.
2. Complaints against decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of election commissions violating citizens’ electoral rights may be filed by voters of a respective precinct, candidates, political parties, non-commercial organizations, their representatives and observers, as well as election commissions. A complaint must be motivated and submitted together with the evidence on which it is based.
A complaint on behalf of an election commission shall be filed upon a decision of a respective election commission, which was adopted at its meeting and attached to a given complaint. It shall be signed by it chairman and verified by its stamp.
3. Complaints received in the course of preparation for elections shall be considered by election commissions within three days from the moment they are received, and immediately if received on the voting day or the day preceding it. In cases when facts contained in given complaints received in the course of preparation for elections require additional verification, decisions on them shall be reached no later than within five days.
4. Decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of election commissions and their officials may be appealed to a superior election commission within time periods established by this Code.
Voting results may be appealed within 3 calendar days after their determination. Elections’ outcome may be appealed within 3 calendar days after it is established. Time periods for submission of complaints shall not be subject to extension or renewal. Upon the expiration of the above-named time periods complaints shall not be accepted.
With regard to a complaint against an election commission’s decision, a superior election commission shall be obligated to reach its decision no later than within three days from the day it has been received. In cases in which facts that are contained in statements or complaints received after the voting results have been determined, or require additional verification, decisions on them shall be reached no later than within five days.
5. When considering complaints (statements), as well as in other cases on violations of electoral rights or elections legislation, interested parties whose actions (failure to act) are appealed, they or their representatives shall be informed on the day and place of a meeting of a given election commission. The above-named persons shall have the right to provide explanations and present evidence concerning the essence of an issue in question. A superior election commission shall have the right to cancel a decision of a subordinate election commission and reach a decision on the essence of a given complaint.
6. Preliminary appeal to a superior election commission shall be an obligatory condition for appealing decisions of precinct election commissions. A decision of a superior (okrug) election commission may be appealed to the Central Election Commission or a court.
Article 55. Judicial Procedure for Appealing Decisions and (or) Actions (Failure to Act) of State and Other Bodies, Their Officials and Other Participants in an Electoral Process
1. Decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of state and local administration bodies, non-commercial organizations or other bodies and their officials, as well as decisions and (or) actions (failure to act) of election commissions, their officials and other participants of an electoral process, which violate citizens’ electoral rights, may be appealed in court within the time periods established by this Code, as well as the actions of candidates, political parties, and their representatives, which violate the requirements of this Code.
2. Courts, public prosecution and internal affairs bodies shall be obliged to organize their work (including on week-ends) in such a way as to ensure timely consideration of complaints.
3. Complaints against decisions and (or) actions (failure to act), which violate citizens’ electoral rights or the requirements of this Code, may be filed by voters of a given constituency, candidates, their representatives, representatives of political parties, and non-commercial organizations, or observers, as well as by election commissions. The above-named persons and entities must accurately state their compliant and submit or indicate the evidence and testimonials on the basis of which they are filing a complaint.
A complaint on behalf of an election commission shall be submitted upon its decision adopted at its meeting. This decision shall be attached to a given compliant and signed by the commission’s chairman and verified by its stamp.
4. Should a court accept a complaint consideration while a given citizen or other participants in an electoral process file a similar complaint with an election commission, the latter shall suspend the consideration of this complaint until the court’s decision enters into legal force. The court shall notify a respective election commission on the received complaint.
5. Complaints received in the course of preparation for elections shall be subject to consideration by a court within three days, but no later than the day preceding the voting day, and immediately if received on the voting day or the subsequent day. In cases when facts contained in the above-named statements or complaints require additional verification, decisions on them shall be reached no later than within five days.
6. A failure to appear in court by a given claimant, or defendant, their representatives, as well as representatives of respective election commissions, state or local administration bodies, or other interested parties, which were properly informed of the time and place of a court’s session, shall not serve as an impediment for the consideration and resolution of a given case.
7. Voting results may be appealed in court within three calendar days after the results of elections are determined. Upon the expiration of this time period a complaint shall not be accepted.
Elections’ results may be appealed in court within three calendar days after their determination. Time periods for submitting a claim shall not be subject to extension or renewal. Upon the expiration of the above-named period, complaints shall not bee accepted.
8. In the cases stipulated by this Code and law of the Kyrgyz Republic, a court may cancel a decision of a respective election commission.
In case an election commission’s decision is cancelled by a court, a new decision on the issue in question must be adopted by the election commission whose decision was cancelled, or by a superior election commission on the basis of that court’s decision.
9. A court’s decision shall enter into its legal force from the moment it is reached, and shall be obligatory for the implementation by state and local administration bodies, non-commercial organizations, and their officials, as well as by election commissions and other participants in an electoral process.
A court’s decision shall be immediately presented to a given claimant, defendant, or their representatives, as well as to respective election commissions.
Submission of an oversight complaint through the procedure and within the time periods established by this Code shall suspend the implementation by a given election commission of a first instance court’s decision.
10. A complaint against a first instance court’s decision may be submitted within three days from the moment it is reached.
11. A decision of a district (city) court that entered into its legal force shall be reviewed through an oversight procedure within five calendar days from the day of submission of an oversight complaint.
An oversight complaint shall be submitted to the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, which shall be obligated to invite a representative of the Central Election Commission.
An oversight complaint against a court’s decision shall be submitted through a respective court that has adopted this decision. The submission of an oversight complaint directly to the supervisory instance (higher) court shall not be an impediment for its consideration.
An oversight court’s ruling shall enter into legal force from the moment of its passage, shall be final and not subject to appeal.
Article 56. The Grounds for Cancellation of a Candidate’s (Candidates’ List) Registration, Cancellation of an Election Commission’s Decision on the Voting Results, and on the Elections’ Outcome
1. A candidate’s registration shall be cancelled by a respective election commission or by a court in cases, in which facts have been confirmed that a given candidate concealed the information concerning his non-possession of a passive electoral right, on the existence of a conviction which has not been expunged or canceled, on the entering into legal effect of a court’s verdict with regard to him, on his abdication or loss of citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic, on him possessing the citizenship of another country, and facts confirming the existence of other reasons for him not possessing a passive electoral right established by current legislation, as well as in case of a candidate’s death.
Registration of a candidate shall be cancelled by a respective election commission or by a court not later than 3 calendar days prior to voting in the following cases:
a) a candidate’s submission of a statement on withdrawal of his candidature;
b) exclusion by a political party of some candidates from the list of candidates in elections under a single-member electoral district;
c) the use by a candidate of additional monetary resources in election campaign financing, other than those in the election fund, which constitute more than 0.5 percent from the total amount of the election fund, or in case of a candidate’s exceeding the spending limits of the election fund by more than 0.5 percent of the established spending limit of his election fund;
d) violation of registration rules as defined in Articles 27 and 28 of this Code, if a relevant complaint was filed within five days from a candidates’ registration;
e) confirmation of facts of abuse of an official position, or position of authority, by a given candidate or his representatives for the purposes of his election, or facts concerning a candidate’s being involved in the above-named abuse by his representatives for the same purpose;
f) confirmation of facts indicating a candidate’s or his representatives’ direct involvement in the violation of the rules for election campaigning;
g) confirmation of facts showing bribery of voters by a candidate, his representatives or his close relatives, or any candidate’s involvement in the bribery of voters.
2. Registration of a list of candidates in a single-member constituency shall be cancelled by the Central Election Commission or a court no later than 3 calendar days prior to the voting day in the following cases:
a) withdrawal by a political party of its list of candidates and refusal to participate in elections in a single-member constituency;
b) the use by a political party of additional monetary resources in election campaign financing other than those in the election fund, which constitute more than 0.5 percent from the total amount of the election fund, or in a case in which a political party exceeds the spending limits of the election fund by more than 0.5 percent of the established spending limit of its election fund;
c) violation of the registration rules as defined in Articles 27 and 28 of this Code, if a relevant complaint was filed within five days from the registration of a given list of candidates;
d) confirmation of facts of abuse of an official or service position by a political party’s management or employees of its executive body for the purposes of election of its candidates’ list, or facts implicating their involvement in the above-named abuse for the same purpose;
e) confirmation of facts of direct involvement of the management, employees of the executive body, or representatives of a political party in the violation of rules for election campaigning;
f) confirmation of facts showing bribery of voters by the management, employees of the executive body or representatives of a political party, or their involvement in the bribery of voters.
3. In cases in which, after the determination of elections’ results by a respective election commission but prior to the presentation of a mandate to the elected candidate, confirmed information appears on the absence of a passive electoral right of the candidate in question, or on him having a conviction that is not expunged or cancelled through the procedure established by law, or a court’s sentence regarding him having entered into legal force, as well as his withdrawal or loss of citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic, or on him possessing a citizenship of a different country, and his death, then the election commission’s decision on the elections’ results shall be cancelled by a superior election commission or a court, and these elections shall be recognized as invalid. In case the above-mentioned information is confirmed after the determination of results of elections of the Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies, but prior to the presentation of a mandate to a candidate elected within a candidate’s list, then a decision on the elections’ results shall be cancelled by the Central Election Commission or a court, and these elections shall be recognized as invalid. In this case, the mandate in question shall be transferred to the next candidate from the list of a given political party.
4. Cancellation of precinct election commissions’ decisions on the voting results from the portion of precincts comprising more than one third form the total number of registered voters included into the electoral registers, shall entail the recognition of elections’ results as invalid in a respective electoral district.
5. The grounds indicated in this Article for the cancellation of a candidate’s or candidates’ list’s registration, as well as cancellation of an election commission’s decision on the voting results and elections’ results shall be considered comprehensive.
Article 57. Liability for Violation of Citizens’ Electoral Rights
In accordance with laws of the Kyrgyz Republic, the following persons shall bear criminal, administrative, or other liability:
1) those interfering with the free implementation by citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic of their right to elect and be elected by means of violence, deceit, threat, forgery, or other means, or violating the secrecy of voting, or of a citizen’s right to become familiarized with electoral registers, or forcing citizens to sign or preventing them from putting down their signatures in support of a candidate, as well as those participating in forgery of signatures or voters’ bribery;
2) those abusing their official or service position for the purposes of being elected, or who failed to timely compile and verify data on registered voters (electoral registers) before sending them to the respective election commissions, or violating the rules for financing elections, including persons who detain the transfer of funds to election commissions, or those who issued ballot papers to citizens for the purposes of voting for somebody else, or those having forged electoral documents, who knowingly compiled and issued forged documents, conducted incorrect vote counting, or knowingly established incorrect voting results and an incorrect elections’ outcome, as well as those having failed to present or publish information on the voting results or an elections’ outcome in violation of their responsibilities;
3) those who spread deliberately false information on candidates or political parties, or commit other actions damaging the honor and dignity of candidates, their close relatives and representatives, and of political parties and their representatives, or those who violate the rights of election commission members, observers, international observers, representatives of candidates or political parties, and mass media organizations, including their right to timely receive information and copies of electoral documents, as well as those who unwarrantedly refuse to register observers, international observers, candidates, lists of candidates, political parties, representatives of candidates or political parties, or mass media organizations, and those who interfere with the implementation of electoral rights at precincts, or who violate the rules of election campaigning, including those who campaign on the day of voting and the one preceding it, or those who impede or interfere illegally in the work of election commissions associated with the performance of their obligations, those who carried out ballot papers from the polling stations, or who failed to present or publish reports on the expenditure of funds for the preparation and conduct of elections, financial reports of candidates’ or political parties’ election funds, as well as financial reports on the expenditure of budget funds allocated for the conduct of elections, as well as employers who refused to provide a leave for participation in elections as stipulated by law.
II. SPECIAL PART
Chapter XI
ELECTIONS OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Article 58. Announcement of Elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic shall be elected for the period of five years.
2. One and the same person may not be elected as the President for more than two terms.
3. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic no younger than 35 and no older than 65 years, who has a good command of the state language and has resided in the republic for not less than 15 years cumulatively, may be elected as President.
4. Elections of the President shall be announced by the Zhogorku Kenesh no less than four months prior to the election day, and shall be conducted on the first Sunday of the month, in which a constitutional term is expiring, for which the current President has been elected.
5. Early elections of the President shall be announced by the Zhogorku Kenesh in cases and through the procedure established by the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic and shall be conducted within three months after the termination of the President’s authority. In this case, the elections day shall fall on the last Sunday before three months expire from the moment of the termination of the President’s authority. In this case the time periods for election actions established by this Code shall be decreased by a quarter.
6. A resolution of Zhogorku Kenesh on the announcement of the day of presidential elections must be officially published in the mass media within 3 calendar days from its adoption.
7. In case the Zhogorku Kenesh fails to announce presidential elections within the time periods indicated in paragraph 4 and 5 of this Article, elections of the President shall be considered as announced. Within 2 calendar days the Central Election Commission shall officially publish the date for conducting elections of the President in the mass media and shall conduct elections within the time periods established by this Code.
Article 59. Organization of Elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
Preparation and conduct of presidential elections shall be carried out by the following:
- the Central Election Commission;
- province, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions;
- rayon and city election commissions;
- precinct election commissions.
Article 60. Nomination of a Candidate for the Position of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. Nomination of candidates for the position of the President shall begin from the day of elections’ announcement and shall terminate 65 calendar days prior to the elections’ day.
2. The right to nominate candidates for the position of the President shall belong to political parties that are officially registered with the justice institutions as of the date of elections’ announcement, as well as to citizens by way of self-nomination.
3. Nomination of candidates for the position of the President by a political party shall be carried out in accordance with the procedure stipulated in its statutory rules and the requirements of Article 25 of this Code.
4. Political parties shall have the right to nominate only one candidate for the position of the President.
5. Nomination of a candidate for the position of the President by way of self-nomination shall be carried out by submitting a statement to the Central Election Commission on the intent to run for the position of the President.
Article 61. Command of the State Language of a Candidate for the Position of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic may be elected as a President if he has a command of the state language.
2. A command of the state language shall be defined as the ability of read, write, and express one’s thoughts in the state language.
3. The basis for the recognition of a candidate as not having the command of the state language shall only be the following:
- a candidate’s failure to participate in the state language test;
- inability to read, write, and express one’s thoughts in the state language.
The Central Election Commission shall establish the fact of having a good command of the state language of a candidate for the position of the President on the basis of a report from the commission on language. The Central Election Commission shall present proposed membership in the language commission to the Zhogorku Kenesh for its approval 20 calendar days prior to the announcement of presidential elections. Zhogorku Kenesh shall approve members of the language commission within ten days from the day of submission by the Central Election Commission. In case Zhogorku Kenesh does not approve the membership of the language commission within the time periods established by this Code, the Central Election Commission shall approve it by its own decree.
In order to check the presidential nominee’s command of the state language, the latter shall do the following:
a) to express in writing his election program pledges in not more than three pages;
b) to make an oral presentation during no more than 15 minutes stating the main provisions of his election program pledges;
c) to read no more than three pages of printed text.
Every member of the language commission shall give make a judgment aloud on the candidate’s level of command of the state language with regard to each of the mentioned criteria on the following scale:
- has the mastery;
- does not have the mastery.
Decisions of the language commission shall be adopted by the majority of votes of its present members. No present members shall have the right to abstain from voting. In the case of a tie in voting in the making of decisions by the language commission, the vote of its chairman shall be decisive.
Review of a presidential nominee’s command of the state language shall be carried out in observance of equal conditions for all candidates. State television shall be obligated to provide live coverage of the procedure for establishment of presidential nominees’ command of the state language.
Article 62. Collection of Signatures in Support of Candidate for the Position of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. A presidential nominee shall have the support of no less than 50 thousand voters’ signatures. In this regard, no less than 3 percent of the total required number of signatures must be collected in every province (oblast), as well as the city of Bishkek and Osh.
2. Collection of signatures shall be carried out starting from the day of candidates’ nomination for the position of the President and shall be organized by a candidate’s authorized representatives.
3. The number of authorized representatives of a presidential nominee shall not exceed 50 people.
4. Signatures may be collected only among voters possessing an active electoral right. Collection of voters’ signatures shall be carried out in places of people’s work, service, study, residence, and at election campaign events, as well as in other places which are not prohibited by this Code for campaigning and signatures’ collection. The participation in the signatures’ collection by the management of legal entities, or of their affiliate and representation offices shall not be allowed, as well as coercion in the process of signatures’ collection, remuneration of voters for giving their signatures, or creating impediments in the process of signatures’ collection. It shall be prohibited to collect signatures in the process of collection of salaries and in places of issue of salaries, pensions, or other social payments. Gross or repeated violation of these prohibitions may serve as a basis for recognition of collected signatures as invalid and (or) refusal in a given candidate’s registration by the respective election commission or a court.
5. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic who is legally capable and of legal age shall have the right to collect voters’ signatures.
6. Every subscription list for a candidate’s support shall indicate a given candidate’s last and first name, patronymic, date of birth, place of work and position held (occupation).
7. Voters placing their signatures on the subscription list shall also indicate the following information: their last and first name, patronymic, residential address, year of birth (additionally date and month of birth for those 18 year of age), and date of placing the signature. Voters shall have the right to place signatures in support of different candidates, but only once in support of one and the same candidate.
8. Each subscription list shall contain information on the fact that a given person was personally collecting signatures, and that the information is true and correct, as well as the last and first name of the person collecting signatures, and the series and number of his passport or document substituting it, personal signature, as well as the name of the populated area where the collection was taking place.
9. Subscription lists shall be made in accordance with the format established by the Central Election Commission.
10. Filled out, bound-together and numbered subscription lists shall be submitted by authorized representatives of a presidential nominee no later than 50 days prior to the day of elections to oblast, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions, which, within five days, shall perform verification of signatures involving employees of registration services. When accepting subscription lists oblast, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions shall certify each subscription list with the stamp of a respective election commission and issue a written confirmation of the receipt with an indication of the number of collected voters’ signatures, as well as date and time of receipt. Either all collected signatures may be subject to the verification process, or a part of them randomly selected (by method of random drawing).
11. All candidates having submitted signatures for registration shall be notified of each case of verification. All candidates having presented the established number of signatures, or their authorized representatives, shall have the right to be present at the process of conducting signatures’ verification, including the process of selecting a verification sample. The signatures on the subscription lists shall not be subject to verification that were excluded (crossed out) by candidates or their authorized representatives prior to their submission to an election commission, if this fact was specifically noted. After verification is complete, subscription lists shall be returned to candidates’ authorized representatives for submission to the Central Election Commission.
12. After verification, oblast and Bishkek and Osh city election commission shall compose a relevant protocol and send it to the Central Election Commission.
13. Subscription lists shall be considered invalid if the requirements stipulated by this Article were not complied with.
Article 63. Registration of Candidates for the Position of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. In order to be registered, a candidate for the position of the President or his authorized representative, not later than 45 calendar days prior to the elections’ day, shall submit to the Central Election Commission documents indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 27 of this Code, as well as a document certifying that a given candidate has made an election deposit.
2. Within 10 calendar days from the day of documents’ receipt the Central Election Commission shall review compliance with the procedure for a given candidate’s nomination for the position of the President with the requirements of the Constitution and the present Code, and shall perform candidates’ registration or adopt a warranted decision on the refusal in registration.
3. Prior to registration and after the verification of submitted documents, a presidential nominee shall transfer an election deposit to the special account of the Central Election Commission, in the amount of a thousand-fold minimum monthly salary, as established by legislation, either from his own personal funds or his election fund. Transferred election deposits shall be returned to candidates after elections are completed, if no less than 15 percent of participating voters voted for them. Remaining amount of deposits shall not be subject to inclusion into the national budget and shall be used by the Central Election Commission for the targeted purposes of preparation and conduct of elections and improvement of the electoral system.
4. Registration of candidates for the presidential position shall terminate 35 calendar days prior to the elections’ day.
5. The Central Election Commission shall inform a person whose registration as a presidential nominee is denied. This decision may be appealed in a court within five days.
Article 64. Election Fund of a Candidate for the Position of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. Within five days after nomination, a candidate for the position of the President shall establish his election fund for financing election campaign in accordance with the procedure established by the General Part of this Code.
2. Election funds may be formed at the expense of the following monetary resources, as well as information campaigning materials, which are considered by the Central Election Commission:
a) candidate’s own funds which may not exceed the minimum monthly salary by more than 15,000 times;
b) funds allocated to the candidate by a political party, which may not exceed 50,000 minimum monthly salaries;
c) voluntary contributions of physical persons, each one not exceeding the amount of 50 minimum monthly salaries;
d) voluntary contributions of legal entities, each not exceeding the amount of 5,000 minimum monthly salaries.
The maximum amount of candidate’s expenditures from the election fund may not exceed the amount of 500,000 minimum monthly salaries.
Article 65. Summarization and Determination of Results in Elections for the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. At their meetings district (rayon) and city election commissions shall summarize the results of voting for the President on their respective territories on the basis of protocols from precinct election commissions, and shall immediately submit the results to province (oblast) and Bishkek election commissions.
2. On the basis of protocols from province, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions, no later than within five days after the elections, the Central Election Commission shall establish the results of elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic, and shall submit them to the Constitutional Court of the Kyrgyz Republic for its consideration and passing a review on the constitutionality of elections of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic.
3. Elections of the President shall be considered effective if more than fifty percent of voters included into electoral registers participated in them. A candidate shall be considered elected for the position of the President who gained more than half of the votes of participating voters in the first round.
4. If a court instituted a criminal case against a candidate who gained the most votes, and has not reached a relevant decision in that case before the elections’ outcome has been determined, a given election commission shall suspend the determination of elections’ results until the court’s decision is reached in the criminal case.
Article 66. Repeated Voting
1. In case more than two candidates for the position of the President were included on the ballot papers, and none of them was properly elected, the Central Election Commission shall appoint a repeat of the voting in the elections of the President with regard to the two candidates having gained the most votes.
2. Repeated voting shall be carried out not earlier than two weeks from the day on which an elections’ outcome has been determined in compliance with the requirements of the this Code. An announcement on the conduct of repeated voting shall be published by the Central Election Commission in the mass media no later than three calendar days after the elections’ outcome has been determined.
3. If prior to the conduct of repeated voting one of the candidates for the position of the President is withdrawn, then upon a decision of the Central Election Commission the second candidate for repeated voting shall be a candidate who gained the most votes in the general elections after the two candidates with regard to whom the repeated voting was initially announced. In case there are no remaining candidates to choose from, the voting shall be held with regard to one candidate only.
4. In repeated voting, a candidate shall be considered elected who gained more than half of the votes of participating voters provided that at least 50 percent of all voters took part in elections.
Article 67. Repeated Elections
1. In cases in which elections have been recognized as invalid, as well as in cases when two candidates were included on ballot papers, and none of them was elected, or in case no one was elected in repeated voting, the Zhogorku Kenesh shall announce repeated presidential elections within one month.
Repeated elections shall be conducted in accordance with the procedure and within time periods established by this Code.
An announcement on the conduct of repeated elections shall be published in the mass media no later than within three calendar days after the respective decision is adopted.
Article 68. Inauguration of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. Results of presidential elections shall be confirmed by the Constitutional Court no later than within 7 days after their completion. The Constitutional Court shall consider a given decision of the Central Election Commission on the determination of elections’ results based on protocols from province, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions, and shall issue its resolution on the constitutionality of the presidential elections.
2. This resolution of the Constitutional Court on the constitutionality of the presidential elections shall be announced by its chairman, and the President-elect shall take an oath to the people of Kyrgyzstan in the presence of the deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh. Official publication of results of presidential elections shall be performed by the Central Election Commission in the mass media within 3 days after the issue of a resolution on the constitutionality of presidential elections by the Constitutional Court.
3. The Central Election Commission shall register the President-elect, and upon his inauguration shall issue him a certificate of the President and presidential insignia, such as the badge and the Standard (Flag) of the President with his engraved full name and dates of his office term.
4. In case a failure to take an oath within the established time period by the President-elect, the Central Election Commission shall organize the procedure for inauguration of the President.
Chapter XII
ELECTIONS OF DEPUTIES OF ZHOGORKU KENESH OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Article 69. Announcement of Elections of Zhogorku Kenesh’s Deputies of the Kyrgyz Republic
1. Any citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic, who on the election day has reached 25 years of age and possesses the electoral right, may be elected as a deputy of the Zhogorku Kenesh.
2. Deputies of the Zhogorku Kenesh shall be elected for a term of five years from a single-member electoral district under the proportional system.
3. Regular elections of the Zhogorku Kenesh shall be announced by the President not earlier than 75 calendar days prior to, and no later than 60 calendar days before, the day of elections, and shall be conducted on the first Sunday of the month, in which the constitutional term expires for which previous Zhogorku Kenesh was elected.
4. In cases and through the procedure stipulated by the Constitution the President shall announce early elections of the Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies, so that the newly elected Zhogorku Kenesh would convene for its first session no later than 60 working days after the day the announced elections. In case early elections have been called, the time periods for performing election actions established by this Code shall be reduced by one third.
5. A decree of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic on the appointment of the day for elections of Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies shall be officially published in the mass media within three calendar days from the day of its signing.
6. In the event that the President does not announce elections of the Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies within the time periods indicated in paragraph 3 and 4 of this Article, elections of the Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies shall be considered scheduled. Within two calendar days, the Central Election Commission shall officially publish the date of elections of Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies in the mass media and shall conduct the election within the time periods established by this Code.
Article 70. Single-Member Electoral District
1. 90 deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh shall be elected from a single-member electoral district in proportion to the number of votes taken for lists of candidates for the position of deputies nominated by political parties.
The single-member electoral district shall include the entire territory of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 71. Election Commissions
1. The preparation and conduct of elections of Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies shall be carried out by the following:
- the Central Election Commission;
- province, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions;
- district and city election commissions;
- precinct election commissions.
Article 72. The Procedure for Nomination of Lists of Candidates for Deputies
1. Nomination of lists of candidates for the positions of the Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies shall begin from the day of an elections’ announcement, and shall terminate 45 calendar days prior to the elections’ day.
2. The right to nominate lists of candidates for the positions of Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies shall belong to political parties having undergone official registration in the justice bodies. A decision on the nomination of a list of candidates shall be adopted by secret vote at a political party’s convention. The procedure for inclusion of candidatures into a candidates’ list and the procedure of secret voting shall be determined by a given political party.
3. Nomination of candidates from political parties for inclusion into a list of candidates shall be carried out subject to the requirements of this Article, as well as the provisions stipulated by Articles 25 and 26 of this Code. The total number of candidates nominated by a political party in a list may not exceed 100 candidates.
Political parties shall not have the right to include citizens into a list of their candidates who are members of other political parties.
In the determination of a list of candidates a political party shall be obligated to take into consideration the following representation:
- no more than 70 percent of people of the same sex, with the difference in the placement on the list of women and men being no more than 3 positions;
- no less than 15 percent of people over 35 years;
- no less than 15 percent of citizens representing different nationalities.
4. Within five calendar days from the day of announcement of elections of Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies, political parties having expressed their intent to participate in elections, shall send to the Central Election Commission a written notification of their participation in elections with an indication of the name and information on their authorized representative on financial issues, as well as the name and data on their official authorized representative in elections possessing the right to sign election documents that are required from a political party in accordance with this Code. A written notification with an attached notarized copy of the political party’s statutory rules must be signed by the head of a given political party and certified by its stamp.
A political party shall agree with the Central Election Commission on the brief name and emblem used in election documents if they differ from the name and emblem described in its charter. It shall not be allowed to change the name and emblem of a political party after their submission to the Central Election Commission until the termination of the election process.
The Central Election Commission shall be obligated to immediately issue to a political party a written confirmation of the receipt of the above-mentioned notification, as well as a reference document for opening a special election account for the purposes of establishing a political party’s election fund.
5. A list of candidates nominated by political parties shall be submitted to the Central Election Commission.
After the submission of a list of candidates to the Central Election Commission, its membership and the order of candidates in it shall not be subject to change, except for changes associated with the dropping of candidates. In this case, another member of a given political party shall replace a dropped candidate subject to the requirements of paragraph 3 of this Article.
Article 73. Registration of a List of Candidates for Deputies
1. In order to register a list of candidates, authorized representatives of political parties shall submit documents indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 27 of this Code, as well as a document certifying the transfer of an election deposit, to the Central Election Commission no later than 40 calendar days prior to elections until 18:00 hours of local time.
2. Prior to registration and after the verification of submitted documents, political parties having nominated lists of candidates shall transfer an election deposit from their election funds to the special fund of the Central Election Commission in the amount of 5,000 minimum monthly salaries established by legislation.
After the completion of elections, transferred election deposits shall be returned to political parties whose lists received five and more percent of votes of citizens included into electoral registers.
3. Within 10 calendar days from the receipt of documents, the Central Election Commission shall verify compliance with the procedure for nominating candidates’ lists with the requirements of this Code, and shall perform registration of a list of candidates or issue a warranted decision on the refusal of registration.
4. Registration of lists of candidates for the position of deputies shall terminate 30 calendar days prior to elections.
5. In case there is no list of candidates registered within the time periods established by this Article, or only one list is registered, then elections shall be postponed for 25 calendar days upon a decision of the Central Election Commission for the additional nomination of lists of candidates and the implementation of further election actions.
Article 74. Election Fund of a Political Party Having Nominated a List of Candidates
1. Political parties having nominated a list of candidates shall establish their election funds for financing election campaigns in accordance with the procedure established by the General Part of this Code.
2. Election funds may be established with the following monetary resources, as well as with the assistance of campaigning information materials, which shall be accounted for by the Central Election Commission:
a) a candidate’s own resources included into a list of candidates, which may not exceed 5,000 minimum monthly salaries;
b) a political party’s own resources not exceeding 200,000 minimum monthly salaries;
c) contributions of physical persons not exceeding 1,000 minimum monthly salaries;
d) contributions of legal entities not exceeding 5,000 minimum monthly salaries.
The maximum amount of expenditures of a political party having nominated a list of candidates, which come from its election fund, may not exceed 1,000,000 monthly salaries
Article 75. Summarizing Voting Results
1. On the basis of protocols from precinct election commissions, district (rayon) and city election commissions shall establish voting results at their meetings on their respective territory, and shall immediately submit them to province and Bishkek city election commissions.
2. On the basis of protocols from province, Bishkek and Osh city election commissions, by way of adding up the data contained in them, the Central Election Commission shall perform the counting of votes taken in a single-member electoral district.
Article 76. Repeated Elections
1. In a case in which the Central Election Commission establishes that all the deputy’s mandates in a single-member electoral district remained undistributed, if all political parties are excluded from the distribution of deputy’s mandates in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 6 of Article 77 of this Code, then the Central Election Commission shall announce repeated elections in a single-member electoral district.
2. Repeated elections shall be carried out within the time periods established by this Code. In this regard, time periods for the implementation of election actions shall be reduced by one third. An announcement on the conduct of repeated voting shall be published in the mass media no later than 2 calendar days after the relevant decision was adopted by the Central Election Commission.
Article 77. Determination and Official Publication of Elections’ Results
1. On the basis of the protocols from precinct election commissions, by way of summing up data contained in them, the Central Election Commission shall perform the counting of votes taken for each list in a single-member electoral district.
2. Political parties, whose lists of candidates received
- less than five percent of votes of voters, included into voter lists, in the whole republic
- less than 0,5% of votes of voters, included into voter lists, in each oblast, cities of Bishkek and Osh.
shall be excluded from the distribution of deputy’s mandates in a single-member electoral district.
Political parties, whose lists received five and more percent of votes of citizens included into electoral registers, shall receive deputy’s mandates, the number of which shall be determined in accordance with the method stipulated in paragraph 3 of this Article.
3. The Central Election Commission shall count the number of votes taken in a single-member electoral district for candidates’ lists of political parties having received five and more percent of votes of citizens included into electoral registers. This total number of votes shall be divided by 90, the number of deputy’s mandates distributed in the single-member electoral district. Received result shall be the first electoral quotient (the quota for receiving one mandate).
Then the number of votes received by every candidates’ list participating in the distribution of deputy’s mandates shall be divided by the first electoral quotient. The whole part of the number received as a result of division shall be the number of deputy’s mandates to be given to the relevant list of candidates.
If after these actions are performed in accordance with the second part of this paragraph, there are undistributed mandates left over, then a secondary distribution shall be performed. Undistributed mandates shall be transferred one by one to those lists of candidates, which have the largest fractional part of the number obtained as a result of division in accordance with the second subparagraph of this paragraph. In case fractional parts are equal, the preference shall be given to the list of candidates which received more votes. If the number of votes taken is equal, then the preference shall be given to a list of candidates which was registered earlier.
4. Distribution of deputy’s mandates among candidates within a given political party’s list shall be performed in accordance with the order of candidates’ placement in their list, established during the registration of the list with the Central Election Commission.
5. The Central Election Commission shall compile a protocol on the distribution of deputy’s mandates in a single-member electoral district among political parties in accordance with the lines of the protocol established in Article 43 of this Code. Additionally this protocol shall include the following:
- names of political parties admitted to the distribution of deputy’s mandates;
- full name of elected deputies from every list of candidates.
6. The Central Election Commission shall recognize that all deputy’s mandates in a single-member electoral district remained undistributed if all political parties are excluded from the distribution of deputy’s mandates in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article. In this case, the Central Election Commission shall announce repeated elections in the single-electoral district.
7. Official publication of results of the elections of the Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputies in the mass media shall be performed by the Central Election Commission within two weeks from the day the elections’ results are determined.
8. In case a court accepted a criminal case for proceedings with regard to a candidate included into an elected list of candidates, but did not pass a relevant decision regarding it prior to the determination of elections’ results, then the Central Election Commission shall suspend registration of that elected candidate as a deputy until a court’s ruling is passed in a given criminal case.
Article 78. Registration of Deputies of Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, Filling a Vacant Deputy’s Seat
1. After the signing of a protocol on the results of elections, the Central Election Commission shall notify an elected candidate for the position of a deputy of his election. Within three days, a candidate elected for the position of a deputy shall present to the Central Election Commission a copy of his statement on abdication of this functions incompatible with the status of a deputy of the Zhogorku Kenesh.
In a case in which a given deputy, elected as a result of the distribution of mandates among lists of candidates, fails to comply with the requirement on abdication of functions incompatible with the status of a Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputy within three days, his deputy’s mandate shall be transferred to a candidate from the same list in accordance with the lists’ order.
2. After the determination of elections’ results and the receipt of statements from candidates-elect on the abdication of their functions incompatible with the status of a Zhogorku Kenesh’s deputy, the Central Election Commission shall register elected deputies within three days and present them with a certificate and a badge in the established order.
3. In case of an early withdrawal of a deputy elected as a result of the distribution of mandates among political parties in their candidates’ lists, upon a decision of the Central Election Commission his mandate shall be transferred to a candidate following him on the same list.
In this Article, an early withdrawal of a candidate shall mean the following:
a) submission of a written statement on withdrawal of his authorities;
b) recognition of a given candidate as legally incapable by a court;
c) a deputy’s death;
d) entering into legal force of a court’s decision on the announcement of a given deputy as missing or deceased;
e) entering into legal force of a court’s conviction with regard to a given deputy;
f) transfer to work or failure to leave work incompatible with the implementation of a deputy’s authorities;
g) departure to a permanent place of residence outside the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic;
h) abdication or loss of citizenship, or acquisition of citizenship of another country;
i) absence at sessions of Zhogorku Kenesh without warranted reasons for 30 and more working days in one session;
j) recognition of elections as invalid;
k) withdrawal or exclusion of a deputy from his political party, from which he was elected in accordance with this Code;
l) termination of the activity of a political party from which a given deputy was elected in accordance with this Code.
4. In case there are no candidates left in the list of a given political party, the mandate shall remain vacant until the next elections to Zhogorku Kenesh.
Chapter XIII
ELECTIONS OF DEPUTIES OF LOCAL KENESHES OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Article 79. Elections of Deputies of Local Keneshes
1. A citizen of the Kyrgyz Republic may be elected as a deputy of a local kenesh, who as reached 20 years of age and resides on the territory of the respective administrative-territorial units.
Article 80. Announcement of Elections of Deputies of Local Keneshes
1. Elections of deputies of local keneshes shall be announced by the President no later than 60 calendar days prior to the day of elections. The day of elections shall be the first Sunday before the expiration of a term of office for which local keneshes were elected.
2. In case of dismissal of local keneshes the President shall simultaneously announce elections of deputies of local keneshes. The day of elections in this case shall be the last Sunday before the expiration of 45 calendar days from the day of dismissal of a given local kenesh. In this case the time periods for the implementation of election actions established by this Code shall be reduced by one quarter.
Article 81. Organization of Elections of Local Keneshes’ Deputies
The preparation and conduct of elections of local keneshes’ deputies shall be carried out by:
- the Central Election Commission;
- okrug election commissions;
- precinct election commissions.
Article 82. Electoral Districts
In order to carry out elections of deputies of local keneshes, multi-member constituencies shall be formed. The number of multi-member constituencies and the number of mandates in each of them shall be determined by respective okrug election commissions in accordance with legislation requirements.
Multimember constituencies shall be formed with approximate equality of the number of voters for one mandate.
Article 83. Nomination of Candidates for the Position of Local Keneshes’ Deputies
1. Nomination of candidates for the position of deputies of local keneshes shall begin from the day of an elections’ announcement and shall terminate 30 calendar days prior to the elections’ day.
2. The right to nominate candidates for the position of local keneshes’ deputies shall belong to political parties, as well as to citizens by way of self-nomination.
3. A political party shall have the right to nominate candidates in each multi-member constituency, the number of which shall not be more than the number of mandates established for that constituency. A decision to nominate candidates for positions of local keneshes’ deputies shall be reached by secret ballot.
When submitting documents to election commissions political parties shall be guided by the requirements indicated in Articles 25 and 26 of this Code.
Nomination of candidates for positions of deputies of local keneshes shall be carried out at a convention (conference) of a political party or a meeting (conference) of its regional subdivision. A member of an okrug election commission shall have the right to be present the above-named conventions or meetings (conferences).
Nomination of a candidate for the position of a local kenesh’s deputy through the procedure of self-nomination shall be carried out by submitting a statement on the intent to run for the position of a deputy to a given okrug election commission.
4. Protocols on the nomination of candidates in multimember constituencies shall be submitted to respective okrug election commissions.
5. No one may be nominated as a candidate in more than one constituency in one and the same election.
6. In a case in which the number of nominated candidates turned out to be less than the established number of mandates in a respective constituency, or all nominated candidates withdrew their candidatures prior to their registration or withdrew (were withdrawn) for other reasons, the respective election commission shall extend the period for nomination of candidates for no more than 20 calendar days.
7. In case of withdrawal of all candidates for the position of deputies after the termination of a registration period, the Central Election Commission shall extend the period for elections by its decree upon a request from a respective election commission, but not by more than by 40 calendar days.
Article 84. Registration of Candidates for the Position of Local Keneshes’ Deputies
1. In order to perform registration, no later than 25 calendar days prior to elections’ day candidates’ authorized representatives shall submit documents indicated in paragraph 1 of Article 27 of this Code to a relevant okrug election commission.
2. Within 5 calendar days from the day of the receipt of documents, an okrug election commission shall verify the compliance of the procedure for a candidates’ nomination with the requirements of this Code and shall adopt a decision on the registration of candidates or a warranted decision on the refusal in registration.
3. Registration of candidates for the positions of local keneshes’ deputies shall terminate 20 calendar days prior to the elections’ day.
4. Data on registered candidates shall be published in the mass media by an okrug election commission within 3 calendar days.
Article 85. Election Fund of a Candidate for the Position of a Local Kenesh’s Deputy
1. Candidates for the position of local keneshes’ deputies shall have the right to establish their own election fund for financing their election campaigns in accordance with the procedure established by the General Part of this Code.
2. Election funds may be established with the following monetary resources:
a) candidate’s own funds not exceeding 100 minimum monthly salaries;
b) resources allocated by a political party not exceeding 200 minimum monthly salaries;
c) contributions of physical persons not exceeding 200 minimum monthly salaries;
d) contributions of legal entities not exceeding 400 minimum monthly salaries.
The maximum amount of a candidate’s expenditures from the election fund may not exceed 5000 minimum monthly salaries.
Article 86. Summarizing Results and Determination of the Outcome of Elections of Local Keneshes’ Deputies
1. On the basis of protocols from precinct elections commissions, okrug election commissions shall determine the results and immediately submit them to the Central Election Commission, which shall establish the results of elections of local keneshes’ deputies in the republic as a whole.
2. Those candidates shall be considered elected (in accordance with the number of mandates), who received the most votes in their relevant constituency from citizens having participated in elections. In a case of equal numbers of votes received by two candidates, the candidate who has been registered earlier shall be considered elected. In cases in which candidates were registered on the same day, the issue shall be resolved by way of random drawing.
3. Publication of results of elections of local keneshes’ deputies in the mass media shall be performed by okrug election commissions within ten days from the day of the determination of elections’ results.
4. After the publication of results of elections on their respective territory, and the receipt from elected candidates of statements on the withdrawal of their authorities incompatible with the status of a local kenesh’s deputy, okrug election commissions shall register elected deputies within 3 days and shall issue them certificates of their election in the format established by the Central Election Commission.
5. If a court started criminal proceedings against a candidate who received the highest number of votes and did not issue a relevant decision prior to the determination of elections’ results, then a given election commission shall suspend registration of a given elected candidate as a deputy until a court’s decision is reached in the criminal case.
Article 87. Filling a Vacant Seat of a Local Kenesh’s Deputy
1. In accordance with decrees of the relevant province, Bishkek or Osh city election commissions, in case of an early withdrawal of a deputy of local kenesh, his mandate (seat) shall be transferred to the next candidate following the elected candidate who received the highest number of votes of citizens having participated in elections in the respective multimember constituency.
2. In case there are no remaining candidates left, the seat shall remain vacant until the next elections.”
Article 2
The present Law shall enter into effect from the day of its official publication.
The Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “Concerning a New Version of the Election Code of the Kyrgyz Republic” adopted by a referendum may be changed or appended by a referendum or by Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic in accordance with the procedure established by the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Article 3
From the day the present Law comes into effect, the following shall become void:
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment and Addition to the Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic” from November, 22, 1999, No. 124;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions to the Code on Elections of the Kyrgyz Republic” from November, 25, 1999, No. 127;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from December 15, 1999, No. 144;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from July 17, 2000, No. 59;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from July 25, 2000, No. 64;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from October 4, 2000, No. 84;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Official Interpretation of Paragraph 1 of Article 76 of the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from November 16, 2000, No. 86;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from October 14, 2001, No. 87;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment and Addition to the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Official Interpretation of Paragraph 1 of Article 76 of the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from April 1, 2002, No. 47;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from January 24, 2004, No. 7;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from April 30, 2004, No. 56;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Addition to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from October 22, 2004, No. 183;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from October 22, 2004, No. 184;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from October, 25, 2004, No. 185;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from December 18, 2004, No. 193;
- Article 1 of Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions and Amendments to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Code of the Kyrgyz Republic on Administrative Liability”, from December 23, 2004, No. 194;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions and an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from December 29, 2004, No. 195;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from January 6, 2005, No. 5;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Addition and Amendments to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from January 21, 2005, No. 9;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from June 30, 2005, No. 83;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from October 12, 2005, No. 154;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions and Amendments to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from January 27, 2006, No. 10;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Addition to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from January 27, 2006, No. 12;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Official Interpretation of Some Articles of the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from February 13, 2006, No. 54;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from July 31, 2006, No. 141;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from July 31, 2006, No. 142;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from July 31, 2006, No. 143;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions and an Amendment to the Civil Procedure Code of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic and the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic and local courts””, from June 1, 2007, No. 76;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Additions and an Amendment to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from June 11, 2007, No. 79;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments and an Addition to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from June 12, 2007, No. 84;
- Law of the Kyrgyz Republic “On the Introduction of Amendments and Additions to the Code on Elections in the Kyrgyz Republic”, from June 25, 2007, No. 89.
Within six months the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic shall submit draft laws ensuing from the present law to Zhogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic.
President of the Kyrgyz Republic K. Bakiev