CEAZ composition

(point 5 amended by Law No. 74/2012, dated 19 July 2012)

1. The CEAZ shall be composed of 7 members and the secretary, who shall be appointed by the CEC according to the following procedure:

a) two members shall be proposed by the main party of the parliamentary majority, two members shall be proposed by the main party of the parliamentary opposition, one member shall be proposed by the second party of the parliamentary majority and one member shall be proposed by the second party of the parliamentary opposition. If political balance is not reached in accordance with this letter, the respective group shall be compensated with the candidacies of the main party until a political balance between the majority and opposition is reached;

b) in half of the CEAZs, the seventh member shall be proposed by the main party of the parliamentary majority, while in the other half, this member shall be proposed by the main party of the parliamentary opposition, according to objective criteria based on:

i) random selection;

ii) equal distribution in the electoral territory;

c) the secretary of the CEAZ must have a degree in law and shall be proposed by the party that proposes the deputy chair of the CEAZ;

ç) 30 percent of the members proposed respectively by the largest party of the majority and by the largest party of the opposition, at a national level, must be from each gender.

2. The Chair and Deputy Chair of the CEAZ shall be selected by the CEC upon the proposal of the CEAZ. In those CEAZs where the seventh member belongs to the main party of the parliamentary majority, one of the CEAZ members representing the main party of the parliamentary majority shall be elected Chair, while for the other half, one of the members of the CEAZ representing the main party of the parliamentary opposition shall be elected Chair. The Deputy Chair shall be of the opposite political affiliation to that of the Chair.

3. CEAZ members shall not work full-time. The CEC shall determine the working hours of the CEAZ during the election period and outside it. For the work performed, the members shall receive remuneration in an amount specified by CEC decision.

4. The ranking of the parties for the purpose of allocating the seats in the CEAZ, in accordance with the specifications of this Article, shall be carried out based on the number of seats won by the political party in the previous elections for the Assembly. In the event of local elections, the ranking shall be determined in accordance with the number of votes received at a national level by the parliamentary parties for local councils in the previous elections.

When two or more parties have the same number of seats and it is not possible to determine the beneficiary party, their ranking shall be determined based on the number of votes received at a national level. When two or more parties have the same number of votes, their ranking shall be determined by lot drawn by the CEC.

5. If the political parties of the parliamentary majority and of the parliamentary opposition that have the right to submit their candidacies for CEAZ fail to exercise this right by the deadline established in point 2 of Article 28 of this Code, this right shall be automatically transferred to the parties next in rank according to the number of seats in the Assembly, within the respective grouping. When this is not possible, proposals shall be made according to letter “a” of point 1 of this Article. If these parties also fail to propose members, the CEC shall appoint the CEAZ members upon its own initiative until the required number of members for decision-making is reached.

The members appointed upon the CEC’s initiative shall stay in office until the appointment of members proposed by political parties, in accordance with this Article. The replacement must be conducted no later than 30 days from the election date. In the event of early elections, the replacement shall be conducted no later than 5 days from the election date. Procedures for the selection and training of citizens that may be appointed on CEC’s own initiative shall be set out in a special instruction of the CEC.

6. In the event of partial or early elections, the CEAZ shall be established no later than 10 days after the date of the President’s decree on the determination of the election date.

7. In the event that the seat of a member of the CEAZ becomes vacant, it shall be filled, in compliance with the rules provided for in this Article, within 15 days from the date the vacancy is created. During the election period, vacant seats shall be filled within 3 days.

8. In the event that the seat of a member or secretary of the CEAZ becomes vacant on the Election Day, the proposal to the CEC must be submitted no later than 3 hours from the moment the vacancy is created. In the event the subjects entitled to make the proposal fail to submit their candidacies to the CEC, this right shall be transferred to the political parties of the same grouping next in rank in the Assembly, according to the number of seats in the Assembly received in the previous elections. If these parties also fail to propose members, the CEC shall appoint CEAZ members on its own initiative until the required number of members for decision-making is reached.