CHAPTER SEVEN

Canvassing Votes and Announcing Election Returns
Article 48
  1. Following the completion of the polling process, the Balloting Panel shall minute a record to be signed by the candidates and their delegates who are present and wish to do so; the record shall include the following:
  1. The number of registered Electors in the Electoral List in the Polling Center.
  2. The number of Electors who exercised their right to vote.
  3. The number of Ballot Papers received by the Balloting Panel.
  4. The number of Ballot Papers used in the voting, the number of those unused, and the number of those destroyed and the reason for such destruction.
  1. The record mentioned in Paragraph (A) of this Article together with the unused Ballot Papers, shall be placed atop the upper side of the Ballot Box and wrapped therewith with a piece of cloth sealed with a knot to be stamped with the seal of the Balloting Panel.
  2. The Balloting Panel shall transport the Ballot Box with its three keys, as well as the Panel’s seal and the Electoral List, to the Constituency Headquarters, where it shall deliver same to the Central Committee against an official receipt thereof signed by the Central Committee Chairman.
Article 49
  1. The canvassing of votes shall be conducted under the supervision of the Constituency’s Central Committee, which may form sub- committees to assist it in its tasks, including the canvassing of the votes, provided that each sub-committee be formed under the chairmanship of a civil or a Shari’a judge, or a government employee whose grade is not lower than Grade Two, with two other employees as members.
  2. The Central Committee shall appoint two or more clerks for each canvassing sub-committee to assist them in counting the votes which each of the Candidates receives.
  3. Before they carry out their task, the Chairman and members of the Canvassing Sub-Committees, as well as the clerks, shall take an oath before the Central Committee to perform their task with honesty and impartiality. Any candidate or whoever represents him by virtue of a written letter endorsed by the Administrative Governor has the right to attend and observe the canvassing process; no one else may exercise this right.
Article 50 The Chairman of the Canvassing Sub-Committee shall open the Ballot Box in the presence of its two members and in front of the candidates or their delegates who are present. If any or all of the three keys to the Box are lost, the chairman of the Committee shall take the necessary measures to open the Box in the manner or means that he deems necessary. After the Ballot papers in the box have been counted by the Committee, the Chairman, or one of the Committee members, shall start to read the names written thereon loud enough to be heard by those present, and in such a manner that permits them to see the Ballot papers when they are being read. The Canvassing Committee shall supervise the entering of the votes which each candidate receives in two separate lists which shall be signed by the Committee Chairman and its two members.
Article 51 If, after the votes in any Ballot Box have been canvassed, the number of Ballot papers therein is more or less by more than 5 percent than the number of voters for that Box, the ballot for that Box shall be considered null and void and the voting shall be repeated the next day or the day after that in accordance with the Administrative Governor’s decision.
Article 52
  1. If any Ballot Paper contains a number of candidate names exceeding the number of deputies to be elected, the excess of names shall be omitted from the bottom of the paper for every category of the Constituency’s deputies, and the rest of the names shall be taken. But, if the number of candidates in the Ballot paper is less than the number of deputies to be elected, then the names therein shall be taken.
  2. If the Ballot paper contains the name of a person who is not a candidate, this name shall be omitted therefrom, and the other names shall be taken. If, however, the name of a candidate is repeated, his name shall be taken only once and the repetitions thereof shall be omitted from the Ballot paper.
  3. If the name of any candidate in the Ballot paper is not clearly readable, but the paper contains enough presumptions to indicate it and prevent any confusion, then the name shall be considered as that of the candidate.
Article 53
  1. In deference to the other cases in which the ballot paper is deemed null and void in accordance with the provisions of this Law, a ballot paper is considered null and void and does not enter in the count of votes in any of the following cases:
  1. If the paper was not stamped with the seal of the Ministry of Interior and the seal of the Constituency and was not signed by the Chairman of the Balloting Panel.
  2. If it was not possible to read any of the names of candidates therein.
  3. If it contained insulting expressions.
  1. The invalid ballot papers shall be added to the minutes of the Canvassing Sub-Committee and signed by the Committee members, who shall write on every paper the reason (s) for its invalidity.
Article 54 The Central Committee shall settle the objections submitted during the vote canvassing procedure and shall issue thereon the decisions it deems appropriate and as soon as necessary for the canvassing procedure.
Article 55
  1. At the conclusion of canvassing the votes, every canvassing sub- committee shall minute a record in duplicate, signed by its Chairman and the two members and containing the following:
  1. The number of Electors registered in the Polling Center.
  2. The number of those who actually voted.
  3. The number of votes received by each Candidate.
  4. The number of papers used in the election, the number of unused papers, and the number of destroyed papers and the reason for the destruction thereof.
  5. The number of Ballot papers which the Canvassing Committee decides neither to accept nor to reject.
  1. To the record provided for in Paragraph (A) of this Article shall be attached the Electors Lists, on which are marked the names of those who actually voted, as well as the papers used and unused in the canvassing procedure. These shall all be immediately handed over to the Central Committee.
Article 56 The Central Committee shall count the votes received by each candidate and announce the results openly in the presence of the candidates or their delegates. It shall, furthermore, minute the results in a record, a copy of which, together with all the Committee’s decisions and the papers related to the election, shall be sent to the Ministry of Interior for safekeeping for at least six months.
Article 57 The Candidate who receives the largest number of votes shall be deemed the winner of the Election. If two or more Candidates for the same seat receive the same number of votes, then the Election between or among them, as the case may be, shall be repeated on the day designated by the Minister of Interior, provided that this election shall take place not later than seven days from the date of Election.
Article 58 Results of the General Election, as minuted in the records of the Central Committees of the Constituencies, shall be announced by the Minister of Interior not later than two days of the arrival of said records to the Ministry of Interior. The Minister of Interior shall issue an “Election Certificate” to every person who has been elected member of the House of Deputies and shall publish same in the Official Gazette.
Article 59 Every Deputy may appeal the validity of electing any person to the House of Deputies and submit the appeal to the General Secretariat of the House within fifteen days from the date of announcing the election results in his Constituency, including the grounds of law upon which his appeal is based.

lib_next-back.gif (1718 bytes)