Discussion: Changing Horses in the Mid-Stream or What is New in Ukrainian Electoral Legislation | VoxUkraine

Discussion: Changing Horses in the Mid-Stream or What is New in Ukrainian Electoral Legislation

29 September 2020
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In Ukraine, just over 3 months before the October`s local elections, changes to the election legislation came into force. The new law introduces party monopoly for nominating candidates at the local level, and permission for machine voting. Before, in December 2019, the parliament introduced open lists, provided that voters would be able to vote for individual candidates.

But not everything is smooth in these updates, and there is almost no time left before the elections to improve the law. Taking into account such problems, the Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe does not allow changes in the basic provisions of electoral legislation less than a year before the election.

We invite you to discuss with professionals, whose work is directly connected with electoral legislation, why Ukraine was in a hurry to adopt the law and are there risks for free expression of voters’ will.

Moderator: Maryna Yaroshevych, expert, Promote Ukraine

Schedule

  • 3:00 PM – 3:10 PM Anna Nalyvayko, Project Officer at Martens Centre (Brussels), “Keeping up the standards of free and fair elections in Ukraine”
  • 3:10 PM – 3:20 PM Ostap Hunkevych, lawyer, Assistant Consultant to MP of Ukraine, Golos party, “The recent history of the amending of the electoral legislation of Ukraine”
  • 3:20 PM – 3:30 PM, Vita Dumanska, CEO, NGO Chesno, “Risk and opportunities of new Ukrainian electoral legislation”
  • 3:30 PM – 3:40 PM, Serhii Horovenko, lawyer, Assistant Consultant to MP of Ukraine, Faction of the political party “Servant of the People”, “What is the impact of the new election rules on decentralization reform?”
  • 3:40 PM – 4:00 PM Q&A

When: October 8th, 3PM Kyiv time (2 PM Brussels Time)

Where: Zoom

Please register to take part: forms.gle/LZdZwvS1C1qdWFA57

Organizers: VoxUkraine, Promote Ukraine

Looking forward to seeing you at the event!

This event is conducted by VoxUkraine as part of its project implemented under the USAID/ENGAGE activity, which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact. The contents of this event are the sole responsibility of Pact and its implementing partners and do not necessary reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

Authors

Attention

The authors do not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have no relevant affiliations