1The Voting Committee members shall, upon conclusion of the voting process, under the responsibility of the Chairperson of the High Court, open the ballot boxes in the presence of all judges attending the meeting, count the votes and announce the preliminary voting result.

2Ballot papers are divided into valid or invalid votes. Valid votes are only the ballot papers which clearly indicate a vote for one candidate only. Invalid votes are the ballot papers where:

aThe ballot paper has not the same elements as approved by the Voting Committee;

bRemarks are made on the ballot paper in favour of or against the candidates;

cThe ballot paper indicates a vote for more than one candidate;

çThe ballot paper does not indicate a vote for any of the candidates;

dIt is not clear which candidate it has been voted for,

dhThe ballot paper indicates a vote for a person who is not registered as a candidate.

3Votes deemed invalid shall be re-evaluated at the end of the counting process. In case of disagreements between members of the Voting Committee concerning the validity of votes, decisions shall be made at the end of the re-evaluation process by majority vote. Votes deemed valid at the end of the re-evaluation process shall be added to the respective candidates.

4At the end of the voting process and the counting of votes, the Voting Committee members shall compile and approve a record indicating the number of participants, the total number of votes, the number of votes for each category of candidates, the number of invalid votes, where applicable, the number of votes for each candidate and the names of winning candidates. Cases of disputes among the members of the Voting Committee over the validity of votes and the way of settling them shall be indicated in the record. The record shall indicate even the number of ballot papers replaced due to them being spoiled

5At the end of the voting process, candidates, who have received the highest number of votes, shall be deemed elected. If two or more candidates receive the same number of votes, the winner will be determined by lot between them.

6The original record showing the number of participants in the General Meeting, the number of votes and the result of the vote count, signed by all Voting Committee members, shall be immediately sent to the High Court.

7Decisions of the election outcome and announcement of winners, every intermediate decision and record shall be signed jointly by Voting Committee members. The decisions shall be publicly announced at the end of the General Meeting and they shall be officially published in the official website of the High Court no later than 24 hours after the closure of the General Meeting. The decision announcing the winners shall be published in the Official Journal.