Official Gazette of RM No, 46

Friday, September 6, 1996

Based on Article 75, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Macedonia, the President of the Republic of Macedonia and the President of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia issue a

DECREE

PROCLAIMING THE LAW ON LOCAL ELECTIONS

Passed in the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia at the session held on September 5 and 6, 1996.

LAW ON LOCAL ELECTIONS

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1

The Law regulates the procedure and the conditions for elections of members of council in the units of local government (hereinafter: municipalities), the Council of the City of Skopje, and the election of mayors of municipalities and of the city of Skopje.

Article 2

During the general, direct and free elections, the citizens cast their votes through secret ballot to elect members of municipal councils and of the Council of the City of Skopje (hereinafter: councils), as well as mayors of municipalities and the mayor of Skopje (hereinafter: mayor).

The members of the councils are chosen by a proportional method, according to which the list of candidates in municipalities, i.e. in Skopje are voted for, whereby the voter casts his/her vote for one list of candidates.

The Mayor is elected according to the principle of majority through a list of candidates for mayor.

Article 3

Every citizen of the Republic of Macedonia who is 18 years of age, with working, abilities, and who is a permanent resident in the municipalities, i.e. the city of Skopje where elections are held, has the right to vote and be elected as mayor.

Article 4

Freedom and privacy in casting the vote is guaranteed.

No one is entitled to summon a citizen to account for the voting, nor to compel a citizen toe reveal the name of the elected candidate or the reason why the citizen did not chose to vote.

Article 5

The positions “members of the council” and “mayor” are incompatible with the positions of president of the Republic of Macedonia, member of Parliament, Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia, minister, judge in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Macedonia, judge, public prosecutor, or of other positions that are elected or appointed by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, and employees working in the state administration bodies, in the administrative organs of the municipalities, i.e., the city of Skopje.

The position of mayor is also incompatible with the position member of a council. Members of the armed forces of the Republic of Macedonia members of the uniformed allotment of the police of the Republic of Macedonia, official of the Ministry of interior and the Intelligence Service are not to be proposed and elected for members of council and city mayor.

The functions listed in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article shall discontinue on the date of the verification of the mandates member of council and a city mayor.

Article 6

The activities, acts, applications, and other documents related to the implementation of the elections for members of the council and mayors are not submitted to fees and all activities related to the election procedure are exempt of all taxes.

II. ANNOUNCEMENT AND HOLDING OF ELECTIONS

Article 7

Regular elections of members of council and mayors are held simultaneously every for year in all municipalities 90 days the earliest and 60 days the latest before the four y mandate expires. Regular elections for members of the councils and for city mayor are declared by the Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia.

The region of the municipality i.e. the city of Skopje in which members of councils and city mayor are elected is called constituency.

The announcement act is published in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia.”

The announcement act on elections determines the date on which election activities begin as well the election day.

No longer than 90 days of less than 60 days can pass from the announcement day to the elections.

III. BODIES FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ELECTION

Article 8

The bodies for implementation of the elections are as follows: municipal electoral committee, electoral committee of the city of Skopje (hereinafter: electoral committees), and the electoral boards.

Electoral committees are appointed by the Republic (state) electoral committee and has four year mandate. They are composed of a president and four members with their deputies of which two are members of the opposition parties that have won at least 5% of the votes at the last elections in 1994 for Members of Parliament, and the other two are of the ruling parties.

The electoral committee has a secretary who is not a member of the electoral committee.

The Republic’s (state) electoral committee is to constitute the electoral committees within 15 days from the day of the announcement of the elections.

Article 9

Political parties propose potential members of the electoral committees and their deputies to the Republic’s (state) electoral committee within 10 days from the day of announcement of the elections day.

If the political parties fail to voice their proposal within the deadline determined in paragraph 1 of this article, members of the electoral committee and their deputies are proposed by the president of the electoral committee.

The president of the electoral committee must be a judge at the Trial Court that the region is under court’s jurisdiction, and consequently the secretary of the electoral committee should be an attorney.

In municipalities where there is not a single attorney among the voters, the secretary might not be attorney him/herself.

Article 10

Electoral board is appointed by the electoral committee at least 15 days before the election day, and is consisted of presidents and two members, with their deputies. Candidates for members of the electoral boards are proposed by the political parties, ten days prior the election day, whereas the two parties` members are chosen from political parties, one of the opposition and one of the position party.

When political parties do not give proposal within the deadline stipulated in paragraph 1 of this article, members of the electoral boards and their deputies are proposed by the president of the electoral committee.

Members of the electoral committees and boards, and deputies, must be individuals with a right to vote and with permanent resident status in the area of that municipality i.e. the city of Skopje, whereby they cannot be simultaneously candidates for members of council or mayor.

The electoral boards of the electoral committees of municipalities in the region of city of Skopje present the electoral boards of the electoral committee of the city of Skopje.

Members of the electoral committees and the electoral are to perform their function conscientiously and dutifully in compliance with the responsibilities determined within the scope of this law. Furthermore, the members of the electoral committee i.e. the members of the electoral board the right for appropriate compensation for the task performed.

Article 11

Within electoral committees and electoral boards, each proposer of the candidate lists for member of council and mayor can appoint his/her representative and his/her deputy, who will have a right to participate in the work of the electoral committees and the electoral boards from the beginning of the elections to establishing and announcing the results of the elections.

Representatives of paragraph 1 of this article participate in the work of the electoral committees and the electoral bodies only in cases determined with this law.

Proposers of candidate lists for member of council and mayor authorise the individuals mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article and they inform the electoral committee and the electoral board on their decision.

Article 12

The electoral committee is responsible over the following:

1. To determine whether the proposed candidate lists for election of council members are processed in compliance with this law;

2. To determine the lists of the proposed candidates through a decision;

3. To appoint electoral bodies;

4. To act on technical preparations for the elections;

5. To determine and announce the results of the elections held in the municipality, i.e. the city of Skopje.

6. To decide on reproach made for irregularities over the work of the electoral boards;

7. To fill in and submit statistical data;

8. To perform other duties determined by this law.

Representatives of proposes of the lists are entitled to be present during the work of the electoral committee.

Electoral committees with the representatives of the lists maintain the following:

1. Determine the polling station and describe the borders of each polling station separately;

2. Receive the general voters` entry in voters registration list for a separate polling station, and note same in a record;

3. Give instructions and directions for the work of the electoral committees and supervise the legality of their work;

4. Monitor the legal implementation of the elections; and

5. Perform other duties as envisaged by this Law.

The electoral committee is obliged to inform the representatives of the lists for the session at which the polling stations and their borders will be determined, three days at the latest before the day of the session.

After the condition stipulated in paragraph 4 of this Law is fulfilled, the electoral committee can determine the polling stations and their borders, without being obliged to call for the presence of the representatives of the candidate lists.

The electoral committee proceeds with its work when majority of its members are present.

The work of the electoral committee is public.

Article 13

The president of the electoral committee convenes a session of the committee, within three days from the day the candidates are proposed for representatives electoral committees. Individuals mentioned in article 11 of this law are also invited to be present at this session, and after being fully identified (names and surnames) they are given decisions by the president of the electoral committee on being nominees for representatives of the electoral committee.

Article 14

Bodies of the state administration are obliged to provide full technical and other required conditions for work of the electoral bodies, and on their request to submit the data required.

The state administration and the Republic’s (state) committee are allotted financial means from the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia for performance of the work mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article.

IV. PROPOSING CANDIDATES FOR MEMBERS OF COUNCILS AND MAYORS

Article 15

Proposals for candidates for council members and mayor are performed through candidate list that is candidate list for a mayor.

The candidate lists i.e. the candidate list for mayor are proposed by registered political parties and group of voters.

The candidate list for member of the council and mayor can be proposed by 200 voters.

The candidate lists, i.e. mayor are to be submitted to the electoral committee 30 days the latest before the day of the elections.

Article 16

The elections for council members and a mayor of the city of Skopje, are performed by voters from the region of city of Skopje, determined with the Law on city of Skopje.

Article 17

One or few political parties together with the voters mentioned in article 15 paragraph 3 of this law are entitled to propose only one candidate list for council members and one candidate lists for mayor.

The number of candidates on the candidate list is equal to the number of the council members of municipalities that are to be elected.

A voter can be a signatory to only one candidate list i.e. the candidate list for mayor.

Article 18

Candidate proposed for the list should have a permanent residence in the municipality i.e. city of Skopje in which elections are to be held, and he/she can be proposed only on one candidate list.

Approval in writing is separately requested from each candidate for his/her candidature and is treated as irrevocable.

Article 19

Candidate lists and candidate list for mayor are signed by an individual authorised by the proposer of the list with authorisation issued by the political parties i.e. group of voters.

Article 20

Candidate list i.e. candidate list for mayor is contained of: Designating the municipality council i.e. of the city of Skopje that are to be elected; name of the candidate list and the symbol of the party; name and surname of each candidate and his/her permanent address, profession, position, and identification number. As an addition to the list of the forms required, further to the written approvals signed by the candidates, the political parties should submit their certificates issued by the appropriate court in which they are registered, and for the group of voters to submit the smallest number of voters` signatures as required by a law.

As an addition to candidate lists i.e. candidate list for mayor, also a document is required that confirms an existence of a giro-account opened for the purposes of the electoral campaign.

The name of the lists is determined with the name of the political party that submits the list. If the proposer of candidate lists in fact is group of voters, the name of the list is recognised under the annex “group of voters”.

Article 21

The group of voters as mentioned in Article 15 of this Law, collect signatures in presence of a relevant state body on a form stipulated by the Republic’s (state) electoral committee.

Article 22

Once the electoral committee receives the candidate lists i.e. the candidate list for mayor, it reviews whether the lists are submitted within the deadline determined in article 15 of this law, and also whether they are composed in accordance with the provisions of this law.

The electoral committee will give its approval when it will positive that the lists mentioned in paragraph 1 of this Article are submitted within the determined period and are composed in compliance with provisions of this law.

If certain defaults of irregularities are detected on the candidate lists i.e. candidate list for mayor, the electoral committee will call the proposers to remove such irregularities immediately or in the next three days the latest.

In cases when it has been established that the candidate lists have not been submitted on time or the indicated irregularities have not been corrected within the determined period mentioned in paragraph 3 of this article, the candidate lists be considered as invalid followed by a decision.

If the electoral committee determines that the proposer of the candidate lists i.e. candidate list for mayor has not submitted a document confirming existence of a giro-account opened for the purposes of the electoral campaign, a decision will be issued for the lists to be considered as invalid.

Article 23

Three days the latest after the period determined in Article 15 paragraph 4 of this Law expires, the electoral committee will compose register listing all the candidate lists i.e. candidate list for mayor proposed by political parties and group of voters.

The order in the register will be determined through drawing of lots.

The electoral committee is obliged to inform the representatives of proposers of candidate lists for council members and a mayor on the time when the activities mentioned in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Article are envisaged to begin.

Article 24

The electoral committee will announce the candidate lists i.e. candidate list within the time determined in Article 23 of this Law, that is 20 days the latest prior to the day of the elections.

The publication of candidate lists i.e. mayor are made public in the usual manner in all settlements and polling stations of the municipality i.e. city of Skopje.

V. ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN

Article 25

Political parties, group of voters, and candidates for council members and a mayor (hereinafter: organisers of the electoral camping) have a right to present various kinds of politically informative propaganda and other kinds of political propaganda, under same conditions and equally, with an aim to influence upon the decision of the voters whilst casting their votes for candidates of council members and mayor.

Organisers of the electoral campaign can present their programs and candidates of their electoral campaign through the mass media, posters, and pre-electoral gatherings.

Article 26

The electoral campaign begins 30 days before the elections` day, and it should not be performed in the last 48 hours before the beginning of the elections` day and on the day itself.

Foreign legal and physical entities are not entitled to organise an electoral campaign.

Article 27

The organiser of the electoral campaign is responsible for securing legal implementation of the electoral campaign.

The organised of the electoral campaign is also responsible for the activities of individuals during the electoral campaign who are given the special authorisation.

Article 28

If separate organisers of the electoral campaign violate the rights of separate candidates during the electoral camping, public appearances, or informative propaganda, the candidate at stake has the right to lodge a complaint to the relevant Trial Court to seek protection for his/her rights legally.

The legal procedure against violation of the rights of candidates is treated with urgency, and after the complaint has being submitted to the Trial Court a decision will be issued in three days from the day of receiving the complaint.

The court’s decision will be made public immediately.

Article 29

In cases when a poll on candidates, political parties and group of voters of the electoral campaign is published, the names of the analysts that have carried out the survey should be stated with the methods used in it and, the name of the person who asked for the survey.

Polls on candidates, candidates lists, political parties, and group of voters are not to be published 15 days prior the elections day.

Article 30

Length of time envisaged for electoral presentation, and the terms and methods for TV advertisements, space in the press for presentation of candidates, political parties, and group of voters and their programmes are determined by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia and it is based on a decision on rules for balanced presentation through the mass media that is to be announced 40 days the latest before the elections day.

Balanced presentation of candidates and the proposer of candidates through the mass media is secured with the regulation determined in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 31

Municipality i.e. city of Skopje designate places where posters conveying informative electoral propaganda are allowed to be exposed and it is obliged to provide same conditions to all organisers participating in the electoral campaign whilst exposing the posters with no fees to be met.

Additional spots for posters` exposure are possible to be provided through a separate condition and appropriate fees.

Municipality i.e. city of Skopje are constrained to voice the conditions on gaining rights for posters` exposure within 50 days before the elections day.

Posters can be exposed on block of fiats or other private property, after an agreement (approval) from the owner of the property is obtained.

Article 32

Destroying posters or placing new ones over the existing by other organisers of the electoral campaign is not allowed.

Article 33

Pre-electoral rallies are not to be held in holy or other premises used by religious group in hospitals, old folks houses, kindergartens, and other public institutions.

Exemptions are possible and organisers will be allowed to have their pre-electoral rall in schools, kindergartens, and cultural institutions in cases when there are no other appropriate premises in the municipality for the rally to be held. The permit is issued by an individual authorised by the institution at stake.

Premises, equipment and other property that are in use by the state bodies must not to used for the needs of the electoral campaign.

If other appropriate premises do not exist in the place to meet the needs of the electoral campaign, exemptions are possible for organisers to use premises of the state bodies under conditions that imply to all of them equally. Conditions are set by the authorised individual of the body.

1. Election campaign funds

Article 34

The election campaign is financed in compliance with the funding regulations stated in the Law on political parties, if in this Law is not said differently.

Article 35

Organisers of the election campaign must open a giro-account under the name “for election campaign”, 45 days earliest before the elections day. Organisers of the election campaign should deposit all the funds received by legal entities or individuals willing to fund the electoral campaign to the account, and to register the type, amount, and the source of the deposit. All expenses of the campaign are to be covered only through this account. Organisers should close this account in three days after the end of the elections day.

Article 36

Organisers of the electoral campaign should a comprehensive report to municipality council on all expenses for the election campaign three months the latest after the election day.

If the organiser of the election campaign is not a political party, the report mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article should have the information on all the deposits received for the election campaign and, the additional information which the political parties produce in their annual reports on finance following the Law on political parties.

In cases when organiser of the election campaign is not a political party, the surplus of the deposited funds is to be used for humanitarian assistance.

Article 37

To finance an election campaign for member of municipality council and a mayor, the organiser of the electoral campaign is limited to 10,00 denars per voter and 60.000,00 denars per candidates list for council members i.e. 10,00 denars per voter and 100.000,00 denars per mayor candidate.

If the election committee establishes that the organiser of the election campaign used sums significantly higher than the ones stated in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article, through which the opportunity and equality are unbalanced for the other participants in the elections, the election committee will issue a decision on rejecting the candidate list and the list of mayor candidate.

If through judgement in effect is established that during the election campaign a political party i.e. group of voters used funds for election campaign obtained illegally, the electoral committee will issue decision for annulment of the election of council members i.e. mayor of the political party at stake i.e. group of voters.

Article 38

Organisers of the election campaign whose candidates won mandates for council members and a mayor have a right on compensation for the election expenses amounting 10,00 per a vote received. The amount of the compensation should not be higher than the used funds that present the figure determined from the report mentioned in paragraph 1 of article 36 of this law, although it is permitted due to the results achieved of the elections.

Article 39

Knowing the decision of the municipality council, organisers should be paid their compensation for the election expenses from municipality budget funds three months the latest after submitting the campaign finance report mentioned in Article 36 of this Law.

VI. IMPLEMENTATION OF ELECTIONS

Article 40

Implementation of elections for council members and mayor is conducted through public appeal to citizens i.e. exposing posters on visible places which done by electoral committees.

Article 41

The ballot for electing council members and mayor is done at polling stations.

Each polling station is registered under ordinal number.

Twenty days prior to the elections day the electoral committee shall announce and expose on visible places lists of the designated polling stations that would also denote the area to ensured that voters will cast their votes at the right places.

Electoral committees will issue decisions describing the each border of a polling station separately with emphasis on districts i.e. streets and the houses` number i.e. flats that are enclosure within a polling station.

Polling stations determined by the electoral committees for the area of the city of Skopje are polling places for election of council members and a mayor of Skopje.

Electoral committees simultaneously distribute copies of the decision stipulated in paragraph 4 of this article to the authorised body that maintains the united voters registration list, who is obliged to prepare and submit the voters` entry of the united voters registration list to each polling station separately. The body authorised to maintain the united voters registration list submits the voters` entry of the united voter registration list ten days the latest before the elections day, to prevent new entries, corrections, or supplements.

Changes in the voter` entry of the voters registration list are possible only through decision issued by relevant court that decides within 48 hours after the time of the received appeal.

Article 42

Polling stations are designated by the number of voters and their distance from the same envisaging to enable potential voters to cast their votes on time without facing certain difficulties.

Each polling station has a specially designed premise with two polling places, one for council members and the other for mayor, with a sign saying “vote for council members” on the first and “vote a mayor” on the latter.

The premise is equipped with cabins i.e. partitions to enable voter to cast his/her vote in privacy.

Further, the premise has polling-boxes made of hard and transparent substance that are handed to electoral boards signature sealed and with a record.

Article 43

A day before elections day, electoral committee with representative of candidate lists hands over the voting material to the electoral board which is consisted of: required member of polling-boxes, application and the final number of ballots for council members, application and the final number of ballots for a mayor, verified voters` entry of the relevant polling station, record on the work of the electoral board, and other relevant material.

The number of ballots that electoral board receives from the electoral committee equals with the number of voters at a polling station in conformity with the voters` entry of the voters registration list. The electoral board notes the ballots` series numbers for the polling station at stake.

The electoral board is hander ballots in a limited number, in a closed envelope with their number written on the outside. These ballots are used only when citizen`s name is not registered on voters` registration list of a polling station and which is entered on the voters` entry additionally.

In presence of the representatives of candidates while receiving electoral material mentioned in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of this article, the electoral board composes a register signed by the president and all the members of the electoral board.

Each candidate member of candidates receives copy of the register mentioned in paragraph 4 of this article.

The same day the electoral board examines whether the premise is appropriate for the ballot, and the observation is noted in the same register where the receiving the electoral material mentioned in paragraph 4 of this article was also noted.

1. Voting

Article 44

Voting is done in person.

Voting is performed with a ballot.

Ballots are printed in same sizes, paper, and are numerated.

Ballots are printed by the Republic’s (state) committee.

Ballots are handed by the Republic’s (state) committee to election committees with voters` entry enlisting the number on the ballots.

Article 45

The ballot for election of council members contains the following information:

1. Designates the council that is to be elected;

2. The final number of members to be elected for the municipal council i.e. city of Skopje;

3. The title of the candidate list printed in capital letters and names and surnames of all the candidates in ordinal numbers;

4. The title of the political party and its symbol or of the “group of voters” that proposed the candidate list;

5. The ordinal number of the candidate lists;

6. Instruction for voting.

After being given ballot, the voter decides which list to vote and then circles the ordinal number on the candidate list.

The ballot for mayor elections contains the following:

1. Designated municipality i.e. city of Skopje for which elections are held;

2. The title of the candidate list and the political party with the symbol of the party or the title of “group of voters” that proposed the lists;

3. The ordinal number and the name and surname of the candidate;

4. Instruction for voting.

The voter circle the ordinal number before the name of the candidate he/she wishes to vote.

The ballot is considered as invalid if is filled in differently but as mentioned in paragraphs 2 and 4 of this article, or circles are also put on other lists i.e. candidates.

Article 46

An hour the latest before the voting, the president and members of the electoral board with the representatives of candidates inspect the premise together to determine whether the premise and the electoral material are in same condition as they were day before the elections, and to see whether the polling-box is empty.

The observed condition is registered by the electoral board and the record is signed by the president and the members, and if happen representatives of candidates to have remarks then they write in one`s own hand.

The hour determined for voting are from 7 am to 7 p.m.

If the order at a polling station is jeopardised, the electoral board may discontinue the voting until the order is re-established. The voting may be discontinued in cases of occurrence of natural disasters or other outstanding circumstances. Should the voting be discontinued for more than an hour, it will be prolonged for the same amount of time as the break lasted but not to be longer than three hours. If the break was longer than three hours, the voting will be repeated. The duration of the break of the voting and the cause for the same need to be recorded in a report.

The polling station closes at 7 p.m., and voters who happened to be there at that time will be enabled to cast their votes.

Article 47

All members of the electoral board or their temporary substitutes, and representatives of candidates must be present during the voting procedure to object if irregularities are detected during the voting, and for the representatives of candidates to put his/her signature on the record.

Objections mentioned in paragraph 1 of this article are submitted by the representatives of candidates to the electoral committee that is obliged that is obliged to review it and reply to it within 24 hours.

The electoral board is responsible to maintain the peace and order at the polling station.

The electoral board is entitled to remove individuals who are creating disorder at he polling station.

If necessary, the electoral board can ask the police for an assistance.

No one should appear at the polling station with any kind of weapon except the members of the police as mentioned in paragraph 5 of this article.

Article 48

Voters casting their votes, need to say their names and surnames to the electoral board, to verify the received request for voting, and to present their 1Ds or passports if requested.

Once the identity of the voter is determined, the president or a member of the electoral board is to determine the voter’s entry in the voter registration list for that polling station by circling the ordinal number in front of the voter’s name, hand the ballot over for election of council members, explains how to vote, and authorise him/her to vote. The voter fills the ballot in, and then folded drops it in the polling-box for election of council members. The voting procedure for a mayor is the same.

Article 49

Voter who due to his physical disability is precluded to cast his/her vote, although is willing to do so, will notify the electoral board three days maximum prior to the election day. The election board will assist such voter to cast vote in his/her home or wherever he/she is in a way that will ensure the secrecy of the ballot.

For a case stipulated in paragraph 1 of this ar