The Rada has begun drafting election rules under wartime conditions: details
фотоколаж: ОПОРА
On December 26, the Verkhovna Rada held its first meeting of the working group preparing legislative proposals for holding elections during the special period. One of the key tasks will be developing mechanisms to counter potential Russian interference in the electoral process.
This was reported by the deputy chair of the working group and head of the relevant committee of the Verkhovna Rada, Elena Shulyak.
According to her, the working group must analyze the readiness of the electoral infrastructure and develop legal instruments to protect elections from external influence. This includes cyberattacks, vote-buying, mass disinformation, discrediting candidates, and funding political forces loyal to the Russian Federation.
Shulyak emphasized that international experience, including elections in Georgia and Romania, demonstrates the high risks of interference by Russia and attempts to divide society.
She also noted the results of an audit conducted by the OPORA Civil Network, which confirmed the low level of preparedness of communities to conduct safe elections. Not a single community audited had complete provision of polling stations with shelters within a 500-meter radius, and in frontline and de-occupied areas, more than half of the electoral infrastructure facilities were destroyed or damaged.
In addition, in many communities, warning systems do not cover the entire population or only work in central population centers.
“This is a large complex of factors that must be assessed in order to understand the real ability of each community to organize elections,” Shulyak concluded.
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As a reminder, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy instructed members of parliament to draft a bill on the possibility of holding elections during martial law. The initiative does not address election preparations, but rather comes as a response to statements by US President Donald Trump.
Subsequently, speaking to journalists, the head of state stated his readiness to cease hostilities along the current line of contact, the need to ensure election security , and the continuation of negotiations with the United States. He also reported a shortfall in the promised volumes of air defense systems from his partners and questioned Russia’s readiness to end the war.
Zelenskyy also emphasized the importance of military personnel defending the state participating in the elections and raised the issue of allowing Ukrainians outside the country to vote. At the same time, the president categorically stated that it would be impossible to organize elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine controlled by Russia.
Incidentally, political scientist Vladimir Tsybulko previously identified four realistic election scenarios during wartime . However, in his opinion, all of them are risky and could lead to unpredictable consequences.
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