Drafts of a bill on holding elections during wartime are already ready – deputy speaker of the Rada

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine already has draft versions of a bill on organizing and holding elections during wartime. The electoral process is being discussed by seven working groups of the Central Election Commission (CEC).

This was reported by Deputy Speaker of the Rada Oleksandr Korniyenko on the national telemarathon.

According to him, none of the documents is yet ready to be considered in the plenary hall “because of the risk that the topic of elections could turn into a political conflict.”

“In everything else, I have no objections. If we’re talking about immediate demands from our partners, then they must first and foremost ensure them with a security component,” Korniyenko said.

He stressed that drafting the necessary legislation requires broad discussion and “the participation of civil society organizations and the government.”

Among the problems with holding elections that the authorities see, alongside ongoing hostilities, Korniyenko mentioned:

• the security of voters abroad who will not return to the country under shelling;

• ensuring the safe opening of polling stations, especially in frontline areas;

• participation of the military, both as voters and as candidates;

• problems with the voter register and the need to expand the powers of the CEC;

• as well as new threats from drones, particularly FPV drones capable of striking tens of kilometres away.

“This is because of the war, because of Russian missiles and daily drones… and not because we don’t want democracy. We are an EU candidate country, we must fully comply with all Copenhagen democratic criteria, and we will work on this,” the politician promised.

Let us recall that the day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had proposed that the Rada draft laws on elections during the war.