Clicks Instead of Ballots: Why Online Voting Fails in a Time of War

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly signalled support for “online voting” — an idea that must be categorically rejected. In wartime conditions, digital elections are not a step toward democracy, but a direct threat to state security, political legitimacy, and national survival. This is why such a scenario cannot be allowed.

1. The constitutional principle of the secrecy of the ballot is violated. Between the voter and their choice stands a digital “platform” that, at some stage, is technically capable of identifying or inferring a person’s political preference.

2. The constitutional principle of free voting cannot be guaranteed. It is impossible to verify who is physically present with the voter at the moment of voting or whether the choice is being made under pressure — for example, in the presence of an employer, family member, or other authority figure.

3. For the same reasons, the principle of personal voting is also not ensured. There is no reliable way to confirm that the registered voter is the one actually casting the ballot.

4. The threat of Russian interference remains substantial. Cyberattacks, malware, and Trojan programs pose a constant risk. In this context, recurring reports and suspicions regarding the “Russian origin” or external dependencies of the Diia platform raise additional and legitimate security concerns.

For security reasons, Lithuania, for example, has abandoned online voting altogether.

5. Ultimately, “whoever controls the platform controls the election.”

Well-founded suspicions of government fraud, along with scandals surrounding online voting for various public councils and forums, seriously undermine the credibility of such elections.

Moreover, surveys consistently show that a majority of Ukrainians do not support online elections.

For these reasons, online voting is unconstitutional, dangerous, and highly questionable.

Why President Volodymyr Zelenskyy supports it remains a rhetorical question.

As a reminder, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed the people’s deputies to develop a bill on the possibility of holding elections during martial law. The initiative does not involve preparation for the elections, but was a reaction to statements by the President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.

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