RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

VIII VOTING

1. General provisions

Article 122

The National Assembly shall decide by the voting of MPs, in accordance with the Constitution, the Law and these Rules of Procedure.

Article 123

MPs vote "in favour" of a proposal, "against" the proposal, or abstain from voting.

2. Voting by Open Ballot

Article 124

The National Assembly and its working bodies shall vote by open ballot: by means of electronic voting system, by a show of hands, or by a roll call.

Article 125

Open ballot voting by use of the electronic voting system shall be conducted in the manner specified by these Rules of Procedure.

Voting by a show of hands shall be conducted if the electronic voting system is not operational, if the sitting is taking place on the premises where no such system exists, or if the National Assembly decides on it in advance.

Upon the request of MPs, the National Assembly may, without a debate, decide to take a roll-call vote, in the manner specified by these Rules of Procedure.

Article 126

MPs shall vote by means of electronic voting system by pressing appropriate push-buttons preceded by identification of MPs.

The voting period by means of electronic voting system shall be 15 seconds.

After the period referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article expires, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall conclude the vote and announce its result.

A decision shall be deemed adopted if it receives the votes of more than one-half of the identified MPs, i.e., the majority specified by the Constitution, the Law and these Rules of Procedure.

The result of every vote shall be shown on screens.

A computer printout of every vote shall be delivered to parliamentary groups upon their request and presented to representatives of the public media.

Article 127

MPs shall use only their own identification cards, and identify themselves upon entering the Assembly chamber by inserting their cards in their electronic voting units, as well as log out when leaving the chamber.

MPs who use the identification card of another member, or abuse the electronic voting system in other manner, shall be sanctioned by the Speaker of the National Assembly by expelling them from the sitting, and the vote in which the abuse took place shall be annulled and immediately be followed by the identification of MPs and a repeated vote.

MPs who fail to identify themselves in the manner referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be entitled to address the National Assembly.

Article 128

MPs shall carry their identification cards with them upon leaving the National Assembly chamber.

If an MP leaves the National Assembly chamber and leave his/her identification card in the voting unit, or close to it, the National Assembly Service shall deliver such cards immediately to the Secretary General of the National Assembly. The cards shall be returned to the MPs on entering the chamber.

Article 129

MPs shall immediately report the disappearance of their identification cards to the Secretary General of the National Assembly.

MPs who fail to bring their identification cards with them or lose them during a sitting of the National Assembly, shall be issued a temporary card by the Secretary General of the National Assembly, who shall notify the Speaker of the National Assembly thereof.

MPs shall return their temporary identification cards to the Secretary General of the National Assembly immediately upon the conclusion of the sitting for which the cards have been issued.

Article 130

Where a vote is taken by a show of hands, MPs shall first declare who is in favour of a proposal, then who is against the proposal, and finally, who abstains from voting.

Parliamentary groups may designate a member to monitor the counting of votes.

After the voting, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall conclude the vote and announce its result.

A decision shall be deemed adopted when the Speaker of the National Assembly declares that a majority prescribed by the Constitution, the Law and these Rules of Procedure voted in favour of it.

Article 131

If the National Assembly decides on a vote by roll call, the Secretary General of the National Assembly shall call out MPs in alphabetical order of their surnames, and those called shall say either "for", "against", or "I abstain". The Speaker of the National Assembly shall repeat the name and surname of an MP and his/her statement, or shall declare that the deputy is absent or does not wish to cast a vote.

The Secretary General of the National Assembly shall record the statements made by the MPs or their absence, next to their names on the list.

A decision shall be deemed adopted when the Speaker of the National Assembly declares that it has received the majority vote prescribed by the Constitution, the Law and these Rules of Procedure.

If the National Assembly decides to take a vote by roll call in an election procedure in which two or more candidates have been nominated, the MPs who vote shall utter the full name and surname of the candidate they support.

3. Voting by Secret Ballot

Article 132

The National Assembly shall adopt decisions by secret ballot where envisaged so by the Law, these Rules of Procedure or a special decision of the National Assembly.

Secret votes shall be taken by means of ballot paper.

A total of 250 ballot papers shall be printed in the same size, shape and colour, and shall be certified with the seal of the National Assembly.

For every repeated vote, ballot papers shall be printed in a different colour.

Article 133

A special commission shall be established for printing and stamping ballot papers, and it shall be composed of one representative of every parliamentary group, and until the parliamentary groups are established, the commission shall be composed of four youngest MPs, each from the electoral lists which gained the largest number of MPs’ seats. The chairperson of the commission is the oldest MP from the ranks of the commission members.

The Commission shall take minutes which shall be signed by all commission members.

The commission’s work shall be concluded by submittal of ballot papers and signed minutes to the person responsible for administering the vote.

Ballot papers shall contain the proposal on which the vote is taken, and the words "in favour" and "against". In the lowest part of the ballot paper, the word "in favour" shall be on the left hand side, and the word "against" on the right. MPs shall vote by circling either the word "in favour" or the word "against".

Article 134

During elections and appointment procedures, candidates shall be listed on the ballot card in the sequence established on the list of candidates. An ordinal number shall precede each of the candidates’ names.

The vote shall be taken by circling the number printed before the name of the candidate for whom the MP is voting.

MPs may only vote for the maximum number of candidates that are to be elected, and only from among the names listed on the ballot paper.

Article 135

Secret ballot votes shall be administered by the Speaker of the National Assembly, who shall be assisted by the Deputy Speakers of the National Assembly and the Secretary General of the National Assembly (hereinafter: the Voting Commission).

Article 136

MPs shall be handed their ballot papers upon approaching the Speaker’s desk after being previously roll-called. The Speaker of the National Assembly shall hand the ballot paper to the MP, and the Secretary General of the National Assembly shall make a mark next to the name of the MP in order to note that the ballot paper has been handed to that MP. Before starting the vote, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall determine the duration of the vote.

The ballot box shall be empty and made of transparent material.

After an MP fills in the ballot paper, he/she shall approach the place where the ballot box is located and shall insert the ballot paper in the box, and the Secretary General of the National Assembly shall make a mark next to the MP’s name on the list, noting that an MP has voted.

On expiry of the voting period, the Speaker of the National Assembly shall close the vote.

Article 137

After the voting has been completed, the Voting Commission shall determine the result of the vote in the same chamber where the voting has taken place.

Before opening the ballot box, the number of undelivered ballot papers shall be counted and placed in a special envelope which shall be sealed.

Article 138

Determination of the results of the vote shall encompass data on the number of:

- delivered ballot papers;

- used ballot papers;

- unused ballot papers;

- invalid ballot papers;

- valid ballot papers;

- votes "in favour" and votes "against", or, if the MPs are voting for more candidates for the same function, the votes received by individual candidates.

The determination of the results of the vote shall also include a statement that the proposal has either been carried or rejected, or, where the ballot paper in election or appointment votes carries the names of more than one candidate for the same office, which candidate was elected, or appointed.

Article 139

Ballot papers that have not been filled in and ballot papers from which it can not be clearly ascertained how the MP voted, shall be deemed invalid papers.

During election and appointment votes, ballot papers on which more than the required number of candidates’ numbers is circled shall be deemed invalid papers.

Article 140

Minutes shall be taken related to the assertion of the results of a vote and it shall be signed by all members of the Voting Commission.

The Speaker of the National Assembly shall declare the result of the vote at the sitting of the National Assembly.

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