Reports

The new normal that Ukraine has been forced into after Russia's full-scale invasion on the 24th of February 2022 raises questions for the Ukrainian government, politicians, experts, and society about whether democratic elections are possible in Ukraine while the active phase of the war is ongoing. This also raises questions about the legitimacy of Ukrainian elected authorities when elections are not likely for years to come. In Part I of this series of Ukraine Policy Alerts, the author delves into the legal perspective to explain why conducting elections in Ukraine remains impossible amid the ongoing full-scale war.

As Georgia prepares for its upcoming parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024, significant changes are underway. This election marks a historic shift to a fully proportional electoral system, with all 150 members of parliament set to be elected in a single nationwide constituency under a 5% threshold. A notable feature is the widespread adoption of electronic voting technologies at most polling stations, a first for country-wide elections. However, amidst these advancements, questions linger over the mandate of key members in the election administration, creating a deadlock in the parliamentary process.

Independent international consultant Tamara Sartania provides insight into electoral system, election administration, electronic voting technologies, undecided voters and heated rhetoric.

EPDE Member the Political Accountability Foundation (PAF) published a short translation of their preliminary election and referendum report. It encompasses a summary of their observation both during the election campaigns as well as voting day itself. In the report, PAF recommends to improve and standardise the training system for members of electoral commissions, introduce mechanisms to ensure respect of the secrecy of the vote, increase and harmonise the rights of observers, revise the number of mandates allocated to electoral districts, reduce the upper limit of the number of inhabitants per voting precinct, and develop mechanisms that seek to prevent the introduction of legislative changes to the regulations governing the electoral and referendum process in a period shorter than the 6 months required by the Constitutional Court.

For the full report in Polish, click here.

EPDE member ISFED published a study on financial challenges for Georgian political parties and election campaigns. The study aims to identify the financial challenges for the election campaigns of the political parties during the elections, as well as invisible barriers for regional politicians, women, representatives of ethnic minorities, and independent candidates.

This report is published at a time of Russian invasion of Ukraine. It underscores the central role of freedom of expression in the maintenance of democracy at home, as well as international order and security abroad. This report provides the analysis and conclusions on the state of freedom of expression and the work of the media in seven countries of the EU Eastern Neighborhood, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia.