Ukraine’s local elections administered professionally, despite legal shortcomings and politicization of some commissions, international observers say

KYIV, 26 October 2020 – Ukraine’s local elections were conducted under a substantially revised legal framework which, despite some improvements, requires further refinement to address remaining shortcomings, international observers from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement today. The Central Election Commission administered the elections professionally and efficiently, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the work of territorial commissions was often politicized, and was negatively affected by frequent replacements of their members.

“These elections were especially important because of the transfer of significant powers and resources to local governments,” said Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission. “We noted how this decentralization process increased the stakes for the political actors, and I hope that the elected local officials will use their substantial powers for the benefit of the people they serve.”

Contestants were able to campaign freely, but cases of abuse of state resources and of office, as well as widespread allegations of vote-buying, were of concern.

While the media landscape is diverse, there is a high concentration of politically vested ownership, contributing to the political polarization of reporting and a lack of public trust in the media sector. The Constitution guarantees the freedom of expression and prohibits censorship, and the conduct of the media during the election campaign is regulated by the Election Code. Monitored private media outlets failed, however, to comply with legal obligations for unbiased and balanced coverage of electoral contestants, and there was a high volume of unmarked promotional materials in broadcast media.

A new Election Code was adopted in December 2019, and while subsequent amendments to the Code addressed some deficiencies, the changes came only shortly before the elections, at odds with international good practice. Positively, the revised legal framework introduced an inclusive gender quota for candidate lists, revised sanctions for electoral offences, and facilitated the changing of voting addresses, making voting easier for citizens unable to do so at their registered address.

“The elections were administered professionally and efficiently despite challenges posed by the pandemic and remaining shortcomings in the election laws,” Gísladóttir said. “Previous and upcoming recommendations will need to be addressed in order to strengthen the legal framework. We will continue to focus on the legal and election administration issues in the run-up to the second round of mayoral elections.”

In the limited number of polling stations visited, the voting process was generally calm, well-organized and transparent, and prescribed procedures were mostly followed. The vote counts, often lengthy, were orderly and transparent, although party observers interfered with or participated in the counting process in several cases. The initial stages of the tabulation process in the few cases observed were organized and calm. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s conduct of an opinion poll at polling stations, funded by his party, appeared to create an undue political advantage on election day and blurred the separation of state and party, the observers said.

ODIHR’s Limited Election Observation Mission to Ukraine took up its work on 23 September and will continue to work in those cities where there will be a second round of mayoral elections. The mission is assessing the extent to which the elections were held in line with OSCE commitments and other international standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.