Procedure of Nomination of Candidates for Deputies by Way of Collection of Electors’ Signatures
Nomination of a candidate for deputy of the Chamber of Representatives by way of collection of electors’ signatures shall be made by a group of electors (the initiative group) including not less than 10 persons whereas nomination of candidates for deputies of local Councils of Deputies by an initiative group including from 3 to 10 persons who live in the territory of the respective electoral district. The list of the members of the initiative group specifying its head together with the application on registration of the group shall be submitted to the respective district or territorial electoral commission not later than 65 days before the elections by the person who has the intention to be nominated as candidate for deputy. The list shall specify the surname, name and patronymic name, the date of birth, the profession, the position (occupation), the place of work and the place of residence, the party membership of the person proposed for nomination as candidate for deputy as well as the surname, name and patronymic name, the date of birth and the place of residence of each member of the group and of its head.
The district or territorial electoral commission shall, within a five-day period, consider the application, register the initiative group and issue to the members of the initiative group the respective certificates and the sample of the list for collection of electors’ signature in support of the person suggested for nomination as candidate for deputy (hereinafter the signature list). The registration of the initiative group shall be denied when the requirements of this Code are violated. The denial of the registration of the initiative group may be appealed against within three days in a superior commission by the initiative group (the complaint must be signed by the majority of its members) while the decision of the superior commission may be appealed against within the same time period in the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus, the Oblast, the Minsk City, the regional or the town court. The court shall consider the complaint within three days.
A person suggested for nomination as candidate for deputy of the Chamber of Representatives in the electoral district by a group of electors must have support of not less than 1000 electors who live in the territory of this electoral district whereas a person suggested for nomination as candidate for deputy of a local Council of Deputies by electors who in the territory of the electoral district in the amount of:
for the Oblast and the Minsk City Councils of Deputies – not less than 150;
for the regional or town (in towns subordinated to Oblast) Councils of Deputies – not less than 75;
for the town (in towns subordinated to region), settlement or rural Councils of Deputies – not less than 20.
The collection of electors’ signatures for the nomination of a candidate for deputy and certification of the signature of the member of the initiative group in signature lists shall be performed according to the procedure stipulated by parts four, five, six, seven, eight and nine of Article 61 of this Code. The signature lists for the collection of signatures in support of the proposal on the nomination as candidate for deputy must include signatures of electors who live only in the same place of residence whereas in towns divided into districts – in the same district within the territory of the electoral district. Violation of the requirements of part eight of Article 61 of this Code may be the ground for denial of registration of the candidate for deputy or revoking of the decision on his registration.
