Ahead of Ukraine’s elections, OSCE Project Co-ordinator launches voter awareness campaign

An awareness campaign with the ultimate goal of helping Ukrainian voters to fully exercise their rights in elections was launched on 8 May 2014 by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) upon request from the country’s Central Election Commission.

The campaign will be conducted through traditional and online media, and is meant to help the country address some of the challenges in preparation to the early presidential vote scheduled for 25 May 2014.

“It is more than ever relevant to remind to people that positive change can be achieved through democratic procedures:free and fair elections are an important element of security and stability of any country,”Madina Jarbussynova, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine said. “I encourage and call on all broadcasters, journalists, bloggers and social media activists to join the campaign and use its resources to inform people about their voting rights.”

The PCU has developed audio-visual and radio announcements. They urge people to check if they are on the voter list and make corrections if needed by the 19 May deadline, warn citizens against vote buying and repeated ballot casting, and inform about thevoting procedure, emphasizing the secrecy of the ballot. These audio-visual materials were endorsed by the Central Election Commission and rated by the National Council on Television and Radio Broadcasting as Public Service Announcements.

More detailed information materials were developed and placed online in partnership with the NGOs Committee of Voters and Opora, a set of four banners to promote this information was also developed so that it can be used by online media, as well as anyone wishing to contribute to the campaign by placing them on their web-resources.

The banners and information on corresponding links can be downloaded here. 

Audio-visual and radio announcements:

• Video on voters lists: http://youtu.be/ukZIIkO9Elk
• Radio announcement on voters lists: https://soundcloud.com/osce/spysky-vyborciv
• Video on vote buying and repeated ballot casting: http://youtu.be/AOkiI4r_MDY
• Audio on vote buying and repeated ballot casting: https://soundcloud.com/osce/pidkup-vyborciv
• Video on voting procedure and secrecy of ballot: http://youtu.be/oCeR-4-gXI8
• Audio on voting procedure and secrecy of ballot: https://soundcloud.com/osce/procedura-golosuvannya

All the materials are offered free for use for the purposes of informing voters of how to fully exercise their rights.

For additional questions on the use of materials please contact Anna Shalimova, +38095271 67 33, anna.shalimova@osce.org, or Andrii Dziubenko, +380506767734 or andrii.dziubenko@osce.org.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator and the ODIHR/OSCE election observation missionoperate independently, under their separate mandates.

The Project “Developing Election Training Capacity and Enhancing Voter Awareness” is implemented in co-operation with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and with the support of the Canadian Government and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) is mandated to plan, implement, and monitor projects that help Ukraine enhance its security and develop its legislation, institutions, and practices in line with democratic standards.

More information on different forms of OSCE engagement with Ukraine can be found here: www.osce.org/home/116922.