Powers of the Central Commission
The Central Commission shall:
1) organise the holding of elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, deputies of the Chamber of Representatives and members of the Council of the Republic, deputies of local Councils of Deputies and other persons elected for state positions by the people, and the holding of republican referendums; exercise in the entire territory of the Republic of Belarus control over execution of legislation on elections, referendum and recall of deputies and members of the Council of the Republic; give explanations of this legislation for the purpose of its uniform use and address, when required, subjects that have the right of legislative initiative with proposals on interpretation of this Code and other legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus on elections, referendum and recall of deputies and members of the Council of the Republic;
2) direct activities of the commissions on elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, electoral commissions, commissions on the referendum, commissions on the holding of voting for recall of deputies, hear their information, provide to these commissions methodological, organisational and technical aid, and, when required, decide in essence the issue referred to the competence of a lower commission;
3) form electoral districts for elections of deputies of the Chamber of Representatives and establish the average number of electors per electoral district in the Republic of Belarus;
4) decide questions on the procedure of participation of citizens of the Republic of Belarus who stay outside the Republic of Belarus in elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, deputies of the Chamber of Representatives and the republican referendum as well as on the formation of electoral precincts; on recommendations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus, take decisions on assignment of the polling stations formed abroad to the territorial administrative units or electoral districts in the territory of the Republic of Belarus;
5) make conclusions on the competence of nomination of candidates for membership in the Council of the Republic, register candidates nominated for membership in the Council of the Republic, summarise the results of elections of members of the Council of the Republic, register the elected members of the Council of the Republic and publish in press the lists of elected members of the Council of the Republic as well as convene the first post-election session of the Council of the Republic;
6) register: the initiative groups of citizens for nomination of candidates for the position of the President of the Republic of Belarus;
the candidates for the position of the President of the Republic of Belarus and their proxies and issue to them the respective certificates;
the initiative group of citizens on the holding of the republican referendum and the issues proposed by it for the republican referendum;
the initiative group of citizens for the collection of signatures in support of proposals on initiation of the issue of recall of a deputy of the Chamber of Representatives;
the initiative group of citizens on implementation of the right of legislative initiative and the bill suggested by it for bringing it in before the Chamber of Representatives;
7) provide for the observance of equal legal conditions for election activities of political parties, other public associations, candidates for the position of the President and candidates for deputies;
8) define the procedure of use of state mass media in the election campaign;
9) make up and approve estimates of expenditures for the holding of elections, a republican referendum or recall of a deputy of the Chamber of Representatives within the funds allocated from the republican budget, form an extra-budgetary fund for the holding of elections or a republican referendum for voluntary remittance of funds of organisations, public associations and citizens and approve the regulations on the fund; distribute monetary resources allocated from the republican budget and the extra-budgetary fund among the commissions on elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, electoral commissions, commissions on the referendum and commissions on the holding of voting for recall of a deputy of the Chamber of Representatives, control the target use of these resources as well as the provision to the commissions of rooms, transport facilities, communication facilities, and consider other issues of their support with material and technical facilities; inform the Chamber of Representatives about the use of resources allocated from the budget for the holding of elections, the republican referendum or recall of the deputy of the Chamber of Representatives; and publish the report on the use of resources from the extra-budgetary fund;
10) establish the forms of ballot papers and the list of citizens who have the right to take part in elections, referendum and voting for recall of deputies, minutes of electoral meetings and sittings of commissions and other documents on elections, referendum and recall of deputies, specimens of ballot boxes and seals of commissions and the procedure of keeping of documents on elections and referendum;
11) hear information of state bodies and bodies of public associations on issues connected with the preparation and holding of elections and referendum;
12) in case when elections are held simultaneously with a referendum, establish that the lists of citizens who have the right to take part in the elections and the referendum, the polling stations and the territorial and precinct commissions should be the same for the elections and the referendum;
13) summarise the results of the elections and the referendum and publish information about them in mass media; register the elected deputies of the Chamber of Representatives and publish their list in press; and convene the first post-election session of the Chamber of Representatives;
14) issue to the elected President of the Republic of Belarus and members of the Council of the Republic certificates on their election;
15) solve issues connected with the holding of a second round of voting, new elections and elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus in case when the position of the President is vacant as well as new voting in the referendum;
16) solve issues connected with the organisation of recall of deputies of the Chamber of Representatives and members of the Council of the Republic, appoint elections of deputies of the Chamber of Representatives instead of the deputies who have left their position and provide its holding;
17) consider applications and complaints about decisions and actions of the commissions on elections of the President of the Republic of Belarus, the electoral commissions, the commissions on the referendum and the commissions on the holding of voting for recall of deputies and make decisions on them;
18) study and generalise practices of the application of the legislation on elections and referendum and put forward before the subjects having the right of legislative initiative proposals on improvement of the legislation on elections and referendum;
19) set up working groups and other structures for organisational, legal and technical support of elections and referendum;
20) establish and develop ties with bodies of other states and international organisations dealing with issues of organisation of the holding of elections and referendum; and
21) exercise other powers in conformity with this Code and other legislative acts of the Republic of Belarus.
