Documents

2020

EPDE Publication

Money and politics – need for new rules of the game

EPDE

In recent years, election experts observed significant increase of spending on election campaigns. The transparency of party and campaign financing became one of the key requirements to ensure the integrity of today's election processes. To raise awareness about the urgent need to increase transparency, our newest comparative study analyzes the regulation and oversight of political party and campaign financing in the EU - Eastern Partnership and Russian Federation.

 

Local Elections

Preliminary report on local elections

OPORA

Opora reports that according to preliminary results, local elections were highly competitive and generally complied with legislation. Violations were specific to certain communities and could have an impact on the results there but were not centrally planned. However, massive violations and incidents of non-compliance of election and campaign procedures, attempts to bribe voters, misuse of administrative resources, and abuse of the procedure for changing one’s electoral address have been recorded.

 

Local Elections

Key conclusions from election day

CVU
Image source: facebook.com/cvu.ngo

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine reports that the most serious problem by the end of voting yesterday was voter bribery. Bribing of voters to change their address to vote in a specific constituency was also reported, as well as instances of bussing voters to constituencies. The second major problem of Election Day were instances of falsifying the vote, including instances where voters were forced to vote, ballots went missing, or ballot papers having already been filled in before being issued to voters.

 

Election Alert

Local elections in Ukraine - a challenging context and a test for Zelensky’s party

EPDE
Photo: unian.info (REUTERS)

The upcoming local elections in Ukraine will take place in a very challenging context: newly introduced electoral legislation with little time for participants in the election to familiarize themselves with it, lacking clarity on COVID19 measures and funding for equipment may pose a threat to the election process, cancelled elections in constituencies in Donetsk and Luhansk have left voters disenfranchised. For President Zelensky, this election is key to win back some popular support lost since his election.

 

Local Elections

On the eve of local elections: agitation violations, voter bribery, unequal application of anti-COVID measures in the regions

CVU

OPORA announced in its press conference on the eve of local elections that despite unequal distribution of anti-COVID provisions to polling stations and election commissions, there is still time for local authorities to fully comply with the standards set to counteract COVID19 during the elections. The last few days before the election was accompanied by typical abuses and violations, and incidents of foreign interference were investigated by OPORA and other experts.

 

Local Elections

Basic problems before the voting day - results from long-term monitoring

CVU

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) presented results of its long-term monitoring two days before the local elections. Main issues identified were use of shadow funds; black PR and violence against candidates; electoral tourism; lack of state funding for personal protective equipment of precinct election commission members. CVU also recommended that voters decide before going to the polling station who they wish to vote for to reduce the time spent there.

 

Local Elections

Second interim report: legal uncertainty, illegal campaigning, and confusion over procedures

OPORA
Photo: unian.info

Continuous amendments to the Election Code during an ongoing election go against Venice Commission recommendations and cause legal uncertainty for the local elections in Ukraine. Illegal campaigning was recorded as the most common electoral misconduct in the past month and unclear explanations by the Central Election Commission on new procedures may cause confusion and threaten the election result. More on this in OPORA's second interim monitoring report of the local elections. 

 

Local Elections

How to organize local elections during the pandemic

CVU

Committee of Voters of Ukraine (CVU) co-published this report with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung on how to organize elections safely during the pandemic with specific recommendations for the local elections in Ukraine.

 

Local Elections

1. Interim observation mission report

OPORA

Opora issued their first interim report of the pre-election campaign period for the local elections. Officially, election campaigning began 05 September, however, political parties, their local organizations, and potential candidates de facto already launched their active campaigning in August. This stage of early campaigning is unregulated by any electoral legal framework and there are no controls over campaign spending. The uncontrolled spending on political ads on social media is also a concern highlighted in the report available on OPORA's website here.

 

EPDE Alert

EPDE calls for authorities to refrain from interfering in the activities of the CEC ahead of local elections

EPDE
Image source: RBK-Ukraine

In recent days there have been reports that officials from the President's Office in Ukraine insisted that members of the Central Election Commission resign. EPDE, OPORA, and CVU are concerned about such efforts by the President’s Office to threaten CEC members and interfere with the work of the CEC and call on authorities to refrain from exerting pressure on the CEC and ensure the independent and effective working of election management bodies.

 

EPDE Publication

Dossier: Impact of COVID-19 on election processes in the EaP and Russia

EPDE

COVID-19 spread rapidly across the world in early 2020, with most governments instituting far-reaching pandemic mitigation measures, including nationwide lockdowns. This dossier compares the lockdown regimes and extraordinary measures taken in response to COVID-19 and how these have impacted election processes in the Eastern Partnership countries and the Russian Federation.