{"id":1336529,"date":"2025-12-24T11:57:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T09:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/elections-in-ukraine-do-the-authorities-guarantee-the-integrity-of-the-vote\/"},"modified":"2025-12-25T05:37:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-25T03:37:07","slug":"elections-in-ukraine-do-the-authorities-guarantee-the-integrity-of-the-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/elections-in-ukraine-do-the-authorities-guarantee-the-integrity-of-the-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s Elections: Can the Authorities Really Ensure a Fair Vote?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Source: Author&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/alex.petrov.3975\/posts\/pfbid037EdEkNGLAE3UYcm3UqupiK5RpbknuDEmbSdidvuD7soCbP2nCKPX2wLM2DuNjYYCl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Facebook<\/a> page<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Suddenly, the topic of elections in Ukraine has taken centre stage. There was even a full parliamentary showdown to figure out how to spell the word \u201celections\u201d from the letters \u201czh,\u201d \u201co,\u201d \u201cp,\u201d and \u201ca\u201d!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"69\" data-end=\"348\">And they are already gradually testing public opinion on online voting. And what about it? It\u2019s supposedly very safe. You don\u2019t even have to go anywhere. You could even vote while sitting on a porcelain throne \u2014 that is, on a toilet. In short, it seems to have some advantages\u2026<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"350\" data-end=\"485\">But I\u2019m interested in a simple answer to an equally simple question: <strong data-start=\"419\" data-end=\"483\">\u201cHow? Who? And how is the integrity of the vote guaranteed?\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" data-right>\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/farce-and-surre-peoples-deputy-completely-destroys-the-idea-of-elections-during-the-war\/\">&#8220;Farce and Surre&#8221;: People&#8217;s Deputy Completely Destroys the Idea of Elections During the War<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p data-start=\"144\" data-end=\"641\">Previously, everything was relatively simple and transparent. If, at a notional polling station No. 52, with a notional 500 voters on the rolls, 501 ballots were found in the boxes, that raised questions. If observers recorded one set of figures in the precinct protocol, but the territorial commission received a protocol with different numbers, that raised questions. The exit polls showed one result, yet the official figures later reported something entirely different, raising serious questions.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"643\" data-end=\"653\">And so on.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"655\" data-end=\"1121\">Who can guarantee that \u201cthe dog will not grow up during the journey\u201d? Could someone input the numbers they want at the final stage?\u00a0One cannot help recalling the old saying: <em data-start=\"843\" data-end=\"920\">\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how people vote \u2014 it matters how the votes are counted.\u201d<\/em> In this case, there may be no need to count at all. It would be enough to write a specific script that conveniently ensures the victory of the notional candidate Holoborodko by several thousand votes.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1123\" data-end=\"1230\">Responses such as \u201cNo, to hell with you,\u201d or \u201cThat will never happen \u2014 cross my heart,\u201d are not convincing.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1232\" data-end=\"1265\">That is the picture as it stands.<\/p>\n\t<div class=\"shortcode-wide-image\">\n\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/602007238_25292528937083769_8338865602807687572_n.jpg\" alt=\"photo: facebook O.Petrov\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<figcaption>photo: facebook O.Petrov<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<aside class=\"shortcode-also\" data-title=\"Read also\" >\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/no-need-to-cheat-poroshenko-warned-the-authorities-against-holding-pseudo-elections-during-martial-law\/\">No need to cheat: Poroshenko warned the authorities against holding pseudo-elections during martial law<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n<p><em>As a reminder, President of Ukraine Volodymyr <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/v-ukraini-rozpochaly-robotu-nad-zakonoproiektom-pro-vybory-pid-chas-voiennoho-stanu-detali\/\">Zelenskyy instructed the people&#8217;s deputies to develop a bill<\/a> 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.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Later, during a conversation with journalists, the head of state announced his readiness to halt hostilities along the current line of contact, emphasized<a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/prypynennia-vohniu-vybory-ta-povernennia-okupovanykh-terytoriy-holovni-tezy-zelenskoho-z-preskonferentsii\/\"> the need to ensure security of the elections<\/a>, and confirmed the continuation of negotiations with the participation of the United States. He also reported that the promised volumes of air defence systems from partners had not been delivered and questioned Russia\u2019s willingness to end the war.<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, Zelenskyy emphasized the importance of ensuring that military personnel defending the country can participate in the elections, and he also addressed the possibility of allowing Ukrainians living abroad to vote. Simultaneously, the president firmly stated that organizing elections in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine under Russian control is impossible.<\/p>\n<p><em>By the way, earlier political scientist Volodymyr Tsybulko named four <a href=\"https:\/\/prm.ua\/yakshcho-vzhe-tak-sverbyt-chotyry-realistychnykh-stsenarii-vyboriv-pid-chas-viyny\/\">realistic scenarios for elections during the war<\/a>. However, in his opinion, all of them are risky and can lead to unpredictable consequences.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Also, follow <strong>\u201cPryamyi\u201d<\/strong> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prm_ua\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Twitter<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/t.me\/+rtV4dxYu2_cyNjVi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Telegram<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pryamiy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 Materials published in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section reflect the opinion of the author of the publication, who bears full responsibility for the accuracy of the information.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The editorial staff of prm.ua may not share the opinions expressed in the author&#8217;s material.<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\"><em>\u2022 The owner of the webpage in the \u201cOPINIONS\u201d section is the author of the publication.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Author&#8217;s Facebook page Suddenly, the topic of elections in Ukraine has taken centre stage. There was even a full parliamentary showdown to figure out how to spell the word \u201celections\u201d from the letters \u201czh,\u201d \u201co,\u201d \u201cp,\u201d and \u201ca\u201d! And they are already gradually testing public opinion on online voting. And what about it? It\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":1334981,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76871,76872,76893],"class_list":["post-1336529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-2","category-news-feed","category-thoughts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1336529"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1336747,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1336529\/revisions\/1336747"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1334981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1336529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/prm.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1336529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}