FINAL REPORT...1 TORONTO – NEW YORK – KYIV – BRUSSELS Head Office: 145 Evans Ave., Suite 207...

2020

The Ukrainian World

Congress International

Observation Mission to

Ukraine’s 2020 Local

Elections

FINAL REPORT

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TORONTO – NEW YORK – KYIV – BRUSSELS

Head Office: 145 Evans Ave., Suite 207 Toronto, ON M8Z 5X8 Canada Tel.: +1.416.323.3020 Fax: +1. 416.323.3250 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.ukrainianworldcongress.org

CONTENT

FOREWORD BY BORYS WRZESNEWSKYJ, HEAD OF MISSION OF THE UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS ............................................................................................................................................................... 2

FOREWORD BY ANDRIY FUTEY, HEAD OF MISSION OF THE UKRAINIAN CONGRESS COMMITTEE OF AMERICA ............................................................................................................................... 3

PART ONE OF THE UWC AND UCCA MISSIONS FINAL REPORT ....................................................... 4

I. Executive Summary of the Final Report .............................................................................................. 4

II. The UWC and UCCA Mission Reports .................................................................................................. 5

III. The UWC and UCCA Mission Recommendations .......................................................................... 10

PART TWO OF THE UWC AND UCCA MISSIONS FINAL REPORT .................................................... 20

I. About Ukrainian World Congress ....................................................................................................... 20

II. About UWC and UCCA Missions ......................................................................................................... 23

III. Domestic and international observers ............................................................................................. 27

IV. Background ............................................................................................................................................... 29

V. Legal framework ..................................................................................................................................... 36

VI. Local election threats and risks .......................................................................................................... 53

VII. Ukraine’s preparedness for local elections ..................................................................................... 54

VIII. Training of the official election observers ....................................................................................... 57

IX. Meetings of the UWC and UCCA Mission leadership ................................................................... 60

X. Address of the UWC and the UCCA Missions to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky ............................................................................................................................................................. 79

XI. Address of the UWC and the UCCA Mission to the Chairman of the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov .......................................................................................................................... 80

XII. Election monitoring by the official observers at the polling stations ..................................... 82

XIII. Local elections observation conclusions ......................................................................................... 90

XIV. Conclusions of analytical observations of the electoral process .............................................. 90

XV. Media monitoring conclusionsedia monitoring conclusions ................................................... 111

XVI. Acknowledgment .................................................................................................................................. 128

XVII. Information sources (online) .................................................................................................. 129

XVIII. Contact information: ................................................................................................................. 130

mailto:[email protected]

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FOREWORD BY BORYS WRZESNEWSKYJ, HEAD OF MISSION OF THE UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS

Ukraine’s December 1, 1991 Independence Referendum and presidential election were the first “free and fair” elections that Ukraine’s people had participated in in modern history. Turnout was 80%, and answering a clear and concise question, over 90% voted “TAK”- “YES” for independence. It was this act by the people of Ukraine, and their overwhelming declaration that they would be free, that sealed the fate of the Soviet Union. On December 26 the Belavezha Accord officially declared that the Soviet Union was dissolved. The “evil empire,” prison of nations, ceased to exist not through war and bloodshed, but by this act of free will by tens of millions of Ukrainians. World history changed that day and the Doomsday Clock’s hands moved the furthest from

midnight the clock has been since its inception.

Since that first democratic vote in Ukraine; this post-Soviet economically and culturally devastated country and her centuries long subjugated people, survivors of genocide, have been on a difficult journey of building a democracy with its promise of resultant freedom and prosperity.

In 2004 there was a long-planned, sophisticated attempt, with Kremlin collusion to commit electoral fraud against the people’s will during the presidential elections. It resulted in the Orange Revolution and a rerun of the vote according to the decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

In 2013/14 President Yanukovych, notwithstanding the clear will of the people of Ukraine, refused to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union and instead pivoted to the Kremlin. It resulted in the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity. This time a revanchist Kremlin invaded Ukraine; first militarily occupying and annexing Crimea and then militarily invading Eastern Ukraine. For the first time in the history of the European Union people have been shot and killed while carrying the European Union flag, for what it symbolizes. The continent of two World Wars has a democratic and peaceful union whose historical mission must be to embrace the epicentre of Europe’s WWII killing fields, Ukraine. At a time when globally democracy is under attack and in retreat, Ukraine is literally its front line.

Free and fair elections during Ukraine’s almost 30 years of independence are not just affirmations of the people’s will, they are of geopolitical consequence. It is imperative that we in the West be guarantors of this process through robust support including observer missions during electoral processes.

Slava Ukraini!

Borys Wrzesnewskyj


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FOREWORD BY ANDRIY FUTEY, HEAD OF MISSION OF THE UKRAINIAN CONGRESS COMMITTEE OF AMERICA

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) has always upheld that elections are a critical step in protecting and securing a democracy; and International Election Observers can enhance the transparency of and the public confidence in the election process.

Voting is not only a fundamental process in a democratic system – but a civic duty that enables one to shape their government and future – and the 2020 local elections were no different. Some might even argue these elections were more important given that they were held under a new election law whereby the role of local self-government bodies would be significantly enhanced due to recent expansion of decentralization reforms and consolidation of territorial communities due to changes in the administrative-territorial structure.

However, fielding a delegation of International observers posed a challenge for UCCA due to the worldwide pandemic, Covic-19 travel restrictions and most importantly proper accommodation of the health concerns of volunteers. But by joining forces with our global umbrella organization – the Ukrainian World Congress – together we were able to register two Election Observation Missions which consisted of 26 members. These 26 volunteers deserve immense gratitude for their sacrifice – volunteering their time and money to serve as members of our joint mission during this worldwide pandemic. Their commitment to democracy and Ukraine must be applauded.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America would also like to thank Ukraine’s Central Elections Commission and other government bodies for taking all the proper precautions to safeguard the voters’ right to cast their ballots.

Andriy Futey


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PART ONE OF THE UWC AND UCCA MISSIONS FINAL REPORT

I. Executive Summary of the Final Report

The UWC and the UCCA International Election Observation Missions to Ukraine’s 2020 local elections present the Final Report on the observation of local elections in Ukraine and confirm that:

“The 2020 local elections in Ukraine were conducted in accordance with the Ukrainian law, without significant violations and generally met the standards for democratic elections.”

According to the Missions, the following issues may have the potential to adversely affect the democratic electoral process and the principle of equal electoral conditions and universal access to vote in the future elections in Ukraine:

External threats: 1) aggressive disinformation by the Russian Federation; 2) direct interference of foreign states, as occurred by high-ranking officials of Hungary.

Internal challenges: 1) “telling the truth” to the voters, oligarchic media control; 2) transparency of election campaign financing; 3) unconditional implementation of voting rights of all categories of voters, including

persons with disabilities; 4) prevention of the use of administrative resource [political influence] and illegal

interference of public authorities in the preparation of elections and the electoral process.

The Final Report covers the activities of the UWC and UCCA Missions during all stages of observation of the electoral process, including voting days and the determination of election results:

1) meetings with representatives of government bodies, international observation missions, church hierarchs, leaders of public organizations;

2) election monitoring at the polling stations on the day of voting on October 25, 2020 and on the days of repeated voting on November 15, 22, 29, and December 6, 2020;

3) analytical observations by the experts of various aspects of the electoral process 4) media monitoring.

The historical significance of the 2020 local elections is that 1) for the first time the new provisions of the Electoral Code of Ukraine were adopted

shortly before the elections 2) they were the result of the largest changes in the administrative-territorial system

since Ukraine’s independence 3) they were held during the ongoing COVID19 coronavirus pandemic and related

quarantine restrictions.

The observers recorded certain violations of the Electoral Code, which were not systemic.

The Heads of Missions submitted official letters to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and to the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov emphasizing problematic issues that needed to be resolved.


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An important part of the Final Report is the section with recommendations for state bodies, local self-government authorities and civil society on further improvement of legislation to create democratic conditions for the unconditional exercise of voting rights for all demographics of citizens, address critical issues during the election cycle and create safeguards to counter external and internal threats of interference in the electoral process, combating disinformation and manipulation in the information environment

1) exercising citizen’s voting rights; 2) countering attempts to distort the will of voters; 3) transparency and openness of electoral procedures: 4) integrity of election campaigning; 5) financing; 6) local government authority; 7) sustainable development and reforms.

The UWC and UCCA International Observation Missions express their gratitude to the Ukrainian people for their hospitality, to the individuals, government officials and representatives of NGOs and to all UWC and UCCA official observers and experts.

The report is addressed to the Central Election Commission, state authorities, local governments, political parties, public associations, organizations, as well as all citizens of Ukraine. We hope that the report will be of interest to foreign partners and all those who care about the fate of Ukraine.

II. The UWC and UCCA Mission Reports

The UWC and UCCA missions issued 4 (four) reports on the 2020 local elections:

A) Interim report of the UWC International Observation Mission to Ukraine’s Local Elections on October 25, 2020. Issue date - October 19, 2020.

https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/uwc-interim-report-on-local-election-observation-mission-in-ukraine_ukr_mk-1-1.pdf

B) Preliminary Observations of the UWC International Observation Mission to Ukraine’s Local Elections on October 25, 2020 (the day after the elections). Issue date - October 26, 2020.

https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/uwc-interim-report-on-local-election-observation-mission-in-ukraine_ukr_mk-1-1.pdf

C) Preliminary Observations of repeat elections on 15 November, 22 November, 29 November, 6 December 2020. Issue date – December 7, 2020.

https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/programs/elections-missions/?lang=uk

On October 28, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and the Ukrainian Congressional Committee of American (UCCA) International Election Observation Missions made a public presentation of Preliminary Observations Report of local elections in Ukraine.

mailto:[email protected]://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/uwc-interim-report-on-local-election-observation-mission-in-ukraine_ukr_mk-1-1.pdfhttps://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/uwc-interim-report-on-local-election-observation-mission-in-ukraine_ukr_mk-1-1.pdfhttps://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/uwc-interim-report-on-local-election-observation-mission-in-ukraine_ukr_mk-1-1.pdfhttps://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/uwc-interim-report-on-local-election-observation-mission-in-ukraine_ukr_mk-1-1.pdfhttps://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/programs/elections-missions/?lang=uk

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UWC website announcement: https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/novini/poperedni-visnovki-roboti-mizhnarodnih-misij-sku-ta-ukka/?lang=uk

mailto:[email protected]://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/novini/poperedni-visnovki-roboti-mizhnarodnih-misij-sku-ta-ukka/?lang=ukhttps://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/novini/poperedni-visnovki-roboti-mizhnarodnih-misij-sku-ta-ukka/?lang=ukhttps://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1_conf-1-scaled-e1606492100561.jpg

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On behalf of the UWC and UCCA International Monitoring Missions, the Central Election Commission has accredited 26 official observers. On election day, the electoral process was monitored by representatives from six countries of the world, namely, Canada, USA, Denmark, Switzerland, Great Britain and France.

The UWC and UCCA missions observed the electoral process in Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kyiv, Chernihiv oblasts, and in the city of Kyiv.

The UWC and UCCA international missions focused on the following key tasks:

• analysis of the legal basis of the electoral process, particularly, the Electoral Code of Ukraine, and Ukraine's commitment to an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe and in the context of other international standards of democratic expression of will;

• evaluating Ukraine's preparedness to ensure democratic elections, counteracting possible foreign interference, manipulation and violations of the electoral process;

• monitoring of Ukraine's readiness to hold elections during the pandemic;

• media monitoring that also covers international media;

• observation of the electoral process on the eve of and on election day at polling stations, as well as observing the vote counting process and the announcement of election results.

The Missions note a number of positive legislative changes compared to the 2015 local elections.

This is the first time when the suffrage by internally displaced persons (IDPs) and internal labor migrants has been adjusted for the purpose of local elections as well as the innovative electronic services to change the electoral address have been introduced.

Almost 92,000 voters (10 percent of the total amount of IDPs) used this service and changed their voting address to participate in the local elections.

Another positive factor is the approach toward gender representation introduced in the Electoral Code of Ukraine during the formation of single and territorial electoral lists, provisioning the inclusion of at least two candidates of each gender in every consecutive set of five candidates (at least two male/female candidates among the first five candidates numbered first through fifth on a list, then the next set of five and so on.)

It’s been the first time that Ukraine has adopted the legislative norms to fully ensure the voting rights of people with disabilities.

The missions were alarmed by the fact that despite Verkhovna Rada’s announcement in July about the local elections taking place all over Ukraine except for the temporarily occupied territories, local elections were not held in 18 territorial communities in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

In 2019, both presidential and parliamentary elections were held in these 18 territorial communities. Now, that the ceasefire regime has been declared the conditions for holding the elections are probably more favorable than a year ago.

The Missions notice the imperfection of the legislation, which gives Civil-Military Administrations the right not to comply with the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and to decide on the impossibility of holding local elections. Notably, Civil-Military Administrations have a conflict of interest with local communities as to control over community funds.

More than 500,000 voters were effectively robbed of their constitutional right to elect the government of local self-government bodies.


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Since the launch of the electoral process the UWC and UCCA International Election Observation Missions met with representatives of key government bodies that were responsible for facilitating various aspects of the election: CEC leadership, the Ministry of Interior, the National Police of Ukraine, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and respective representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The UWC and UCCA observation missions also worked closely with international missions, including the OSCE, expert NGOs such as the Committee of Voters of Ukraine and OPORA, and a number of other NGOs and think tanks. In addition, meetings were held with the Hierarchs of Ukrainian Churches.

As to foreign interference the Missions note that any direct interference in Ukraine's internal affairs by foreign states is absolutely unacceptable. This includes campaigning for a political party during Hungarian State Secretary János Árpád Potápi’s visit to Zakarpattia oblast and the call of Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó addressing Hungarians of Transcarpathia to support party KMKSZ – Hungarian Party in Ukraine in the local elections.

Official observers noted minor irregularities and difficulties before and during the election day at selected polling stations, including:

- delays in opening some polling stations;

- lack of ballot boxes, improper sealing and placement of ballot boxes, including mobile ballot boxes, at the polling station;

- attempts to take a picture with a ballot paper and attempts to take a ballot paper outside;

- lack of voting booths, including special voting booths for people with disabilities;

- improper arrangement of voting booths;

- elements of prohibited campaigning on election day;

- problems with the voter lists, absence of people on the lists who were discharged on the eve of the voting day;

- difficulties with access of elderly people and people with disabilities to some polling stations;

- non-compliance with anti-epidemiological measures.

These violations were not systemic and generally did not affect the voting results.

These preliminary observations are submitted prior to the completion of vote counting, the announcement of the preliminary and final results of the election, and adjudication of possible complaints and appeals.

“These elections are different from any other election in Ukraine’s history because of the challenges posed by the pandemic and the fact that local governments now have bigger say in their local affairs and have more capacity to address local issues,” stressed Andriy Futey, Head of the UCCA Election Observation Mission.

“In fact, Russia's hybrid military aggression against Ukraine had the largest negative impact on the 2020 local elections in Ukraine, as it robbed the Ukrainian people of a chance to elect local governments in Crimea and in the occupied territories of Donbas,” said the Head of the UWC Monitoring Mission Borys Wrzesnewskyj. "The UWC and UCCA missions continue their work, and a detailed report from both missions with specific recommendations on how to improve the electoral process will be submitted after the elections"

Check out PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS REPORT

The presentation of Monitoring Missions’ Preliminary Observations Report was widely covered by the media

Announcement on the ASPI News Agency website:

mailto:[email protected]://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/111uwc-preliminary-last.pdf

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https://aspi.com.ua/news/politika/moskva-budapesht-ta-covid-19-svitoviy-kongres-ukrainciv-prokomentuvav-vpliv#gsc.tab=0

The UWC Head of Mission Borys Wrzesnewskyj listed factors of significant external influence on the October 25 electoral process in Ukraine. A Canadian politician of Ukrainian descent mentioned the Kremlin and the illegal campaigning of the Hungarian government in Zakarpattia.

The major external factor influencing the Ukrainian voter is Russia's imperial policy. Due to military aggression, millions of Ukrainians were deprived of the right to elect local government. Besides the citizens who remained in the occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea there were another half a million residents of 18 territorial communities of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where the elections were canceled due to the proximity to the front.

"Besides, Russia is an autocracy, so it will try to destroy democracy in neighboring countries at all costs, particularly in Ukraine," said Wrzesnewskyj. "The Kremlin is waging a powerful information war not only in Ukraine but also spreading false information about the state of affairs in the Ukraine all over the world.”

The second factor was the continuous work of Hungary to influence the electoral process in the Zakarpattia oblast. "It is strange that a country that is a member of NATO and the EU has behaved in this way," said the UWC mission leader. Indeed, according to observers from the OPORA civil network, on October 8-9, Hungarian State Secretary for National Policy Janos Arpad Potápi campaigned for the KMKSZ "Party of Hungarians of Ukraine" during a visit to Zakarpattia.

Despite the protests of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó addressed Ukrainian Hungarians on election day, October 25, 2020, in his Facebook post: “The only Hungarian party, the KMKSZ, is running for the Zakarpattia Regional Council, and it would be bad if Hungarians were left without representation at the oblast level.” He also campaigned for the election of current mayor Zoltan Babyak as the next mayor of Berehove.

The UWC called the COVID-19 pandemic the third most important external factor in the Ukrainian elections. Among the internal factors the following changes in the legislation had a positive impact on the elections: the gender quota in the voter lists and creation of voting opportunities for the internally displaced persons. "Overall, during the elections the missions recorded minor violations, which were not systemic in nature and did not affect the results. The elections were held in compliance with international standards of democracy," Wrzesnewskyj concluded.

© 2019 ASPI News Agency

D) Final Report on the observation of 2020 local elections in Ukraine (January 25, 2021) consists of forewords and a total of 21 sections divided into two parts.

The conclusions of the UWC and UCCA Missions were based on direct short-term and long-term observations, as well as meetings with senior government officials, NGOs and the international community.

The missions were completely independent and did not receive any government funding.

An online reporting system for short-term observers was developed by Sterling Business School.

mailto:[email protected]://aspi.com.ua/news/politika/moskva-budapesht-ta-covid-19-svitoviy-kongres-ukrainciv-prokomentuvav-vpliv#gsc.tab=0https://aspi.com.ua/news/politika/moskva-budapesht-ta-covid-19-svitoviy-kongres-ukrainciv-prokomentuvav-vpliv#gsc.tab=0

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III. The UWC and UCCA Mission Recommendations

Following the discussion of problematic issues during meetings with the CEC senior leadership, a number of leading NGOs that deal with the elections, after active monitoring of all events and news related to the local elections, the Heads of the UWC and UCCA Election Observation Missions Borys Wrzesnewskyj and Andriy Futey respectively sent a letter to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky regarding the importance of holding transparent, democratic and fair elections in Ukraine and the need to ensure a range of anti-epidemic measures during the elections:

“This electoral process will take place in very difficult conditions of the new election legislation, a large number of internally displaced persons and military aggression in eastern Ukraine.

One of the main problems of this election campaign was the wide spreading of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) in Ukraine. It is obvious that Ukrainian legislation cannot foresee these challenges that strongly influence the electoral process and in particular the participation of voters themselves, the work of election commissions and observers…

The successful resolution of this issue depends on the combined efforts of the authorities at all levels and the provision of resources at all stages of the electoral process.

We hope for a successful combination of efforts to ensure transparent, democratic and fair elections in Ukraine, and the appropriate recognition of these elections by the international community as a confirmation of the development of democratic processes in Ukraine."


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The Heads of Mission submitted an official letter to the Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Mr. Dmytro Razumkov, expressing their concern over the implementation of the citizens' voting rights requesting that the Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning “holds hearings on the restoration of the constitutional suffrage of citizens living in 18 territorial communities who were deprived of the right to elect representative bodies of local self-government in the October 25, 2020, local elections in a manner not determined by the Electoral Code of Ukraine. The heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblast civil-military administrations should be invited to the hearing to provide a detailed explanation of all the circumstances that served as grounds for canceling the local elections in 18 territorial communities.”

The missions hope for a constructive legislative solution to the issue of ensuring the rights of citizens to choose local government bodies.


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Recommendations for improving the electoral process in Ukraine

The UWC and UCCA missions offer the following recommendations to public authorities, local governments, and civil society to improve access to suffrage, further improve legislation to create democratic conditions for the unconditional exercise of voting rights by all citizens, address critical issues that arose during the election cycle, and create safeguards to counter external and internal threats of interference in the electoral process, combating disinformation and manipulation in the information space:

➢ Exercising citizen’s voting rights: 1) make every effort to ensure the exercise of citizens' voting rights in the temporarily

occupied territories of Crimea and certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions only after the de-occupation of the area, obtaining full control over the border with Russia, launching of Ukrainian media, creating conditions for the return of internally displaced persons and ensuring free expression of will of all citizens;

2) ensure the exercise of citizens' voting rights in local self-government elections in 18 territorial communities of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, which did not hold elections on October 25, 2020, at the request of Donetsk and Luhansk civil-military administrations;

3) continue work on providing conditions for the exercise of voting rights of all citizens including persons with disabilities, focusing on accessibility of polling station premises, arrangement of special booths and other measures;

4) provide conditions for the exercise of voting rights by citizens, persons experiencing health issues and in self-isolation, including the use of electronic notification forms regarding the inability to vote at the polling station;

5) continue improving procedures for changing citizens’ electoral address for the exercise of voting rights;

➢ countering the attempts to distort the will of voters: 1) prevent the use of administrative resources by senior officials and civil servants to

interfere in the electoral process or campaign; 2) legislatively regulate the issue of informing voters about changes in the surname, name

or patronymics of clone candidates [candidates who obtain the same names as the high-rating candidates in their district thus confusing voters – Ed.];

3) ensure the inevitability of punishment for violating the electoral law and widely informing citizens about the results of court proceedings and administrative and criminal prosecution of persons who violated the electoral law in previous elections through bribery of voters, candidates, mayors, and voters who changed electoral address seeking financial gain or benefits;

4) ensure unconditional implementation of Article 3 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Central Election Commission” to prevent interference by any government bodies, officials and public servants, citizens and their associations in the affairs of the Central Election Commission;


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➢ transparency and openness of election procedures:

1) ensure the increase of transparency of the electoral process by prompt and full information disclosure from polling stations, making it freely available on the Web portal of the information-analytical system "Local Elections" hosted by the Central Election Commission’s website, including detailed information on candidates for deputies, candidates for city, settlement, and village mayors, as well as electronic protocols of precinct and territorial election commissions;

2) ensure through legislative means the transparency and effective public control over the financing of electoral processes by prompt and full information disclosure of all financial transactions of political parties, candidates for deputies, candidates for city, settlements, and village mayors making it freely available on the Web portal of the information-analytical system "Local Elections" hosted by the Central Election Commission’s website to account for the costs of all types of pre-election campaigning and events;

➢ integrity of election campaigning 1) abolish through legislative means the "Day of Silence" as an outdated norm, which is

difficult to ensure with the increase of campaigning on social networks and messengers; 2) ensure through legislative means the creation of equal conditions in the media

environment for political parties and candidates, so as to limit media owners’ capacity to influence what journalists say or write;

3) continue to raise citizens' awareness of the serious threats of disinformation to political stability, sustainable development and fundamental rights and freedoms;

4) develop an effective Strategy for Combating Disinformation and Information Manipulation, which are key elements of the hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine;

➢ financing: 1) support the territorial and election commissions with all necessary financial, material and

technical resources from the state budget during local elections; 2) determine through legislative norms the upper limits of campaign funds and the upper

limits of campaign expenses and introduce financial responsibility for exceeding these amounts;

3) identify by law the responsibility of political parties that formed parliamentary factions in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the timely delegation of candidates to form territorial and district election commissions in local elections and guaranteeing the honesty of their representatives in territorial election commissions and district election commissions at all stages of the electoral process and during the repeat voting and the determination of voting results;

4) consider legislation to establish financial incentives for political parties that complied with the established gender quota during the registration of authority of the local council deputies;

5) consider legislation that would authorize payment of remuneration to local council deputies for fulfilling their deputy duties, particularly during the period when the council is in session and when working in deputy committees;


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➢ local government authority:

1) continue the decentralization reform and ensure that local budgets have adequate financial capacity to satisfy the statutory responsibilities of local governments and electoral obligations;

2) establish legislative safeguards to prevent changes or redistribution of the authority of local self-government bodies from the beginning of the electoral process up until at least a year after the end of the local elections;

➢ sustainable development and reforms: 1) invest in raising media awareness among the citizens of Ukraine, including disinformation

and manipulation by introducing specialized training and the introduction of critical thinking and media literacy curriculum in school and academic programs;

2) establish cooperation with Western governments and international organizations on the exchange of data and experience in combating Russian disinformation and the coordinated response to eliminate its destructive consequences;

3) establish cooperation with Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp, Telegram and other electronic social media systems to respond to and counter the spread of Russian and other disinformation;

4) promote the development of independent, high-quality media that would effectively disseminate truthful information about Ukraine in several languages among various target audiences;

5) study the possibility of increasing election participation among Ukrainian voters using best world practices of electronic voting, voting by mail, telephone voting.


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PART TWO OF THE UWC AND UCCA MISSIONS FINAL REPORT

I. About Ukrainian World Congress

The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) is the international coordinating body for Ukrainian communities in the diaspora representing the interests of over 20 million Ukrainians. The UWC has a network of member organizations and ties with Ukrainians in over 60 countries. Founded in 1967, the UWC was recognized in 2003 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council as a non-governmental organization with special consultative status and obtained in 2018 participatory status as an international non-governmental organization with the Council of Europe.

The UWC consists of such member organizations as the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (USA), the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (Canada), the Coordination Center of Ukrainian Public Central Institutions (Europe), the Union of Ukrainian Organizations in Australia, the Ukrainian Central Representation of Argentina, the Coordination Committee of Ukrainian Organizations in Brazil, and many others exceeding 150 in total.

The purpose of the association is to help the Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom and state independence and to coordinate the activities of its members.

The main goals and objectives of the UWC are: • to represent the interests of Ukrainians in the diaspora; • coordinate the international relations of its member organizations that support and

develop the Ukrainian national identity, spirit, language, culture and Ukrainian heritage around the world;

• to promote the development of civil society of Ukrainians in their countries of residence and at the same time to strengthen the positive attitude towards Ukrainians and the Ukrainian state;

• to protect the rights of Ukrainians regardless of their place of residence in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more than 50 years, the UWC has been uniting Ukrainians all over the world around common goals and values and has paid special attention to such issues as: the protection and defense of the human and national rights of Ukrainians; international recognition of the Holodomor of 1932-33 as an act of genocide; democratization of Ukraine and its integration into the European Union; strengthening of Ukraine as a state and inviolability of its borders; election observation; social and economic issues related to economic migration from Ukraine; promoting the development of the Ukrainian language in Ukraine and in the diaspora.

Since Ukraine's independence in 1991, the UWC has worked to make it a true global epicenter of Ukrainization, which is in the interests of both Ukrainians living in Ukraine and those living abroad.

On 11 July 2019, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation declared the UWC to be an undesirable organization, that constitutes a threat to the constitutional framework and security of the Russian Federation.


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The key activities of the UWC are:

Strengthening of Ukraine as a modern democratic wealthy state:

• support of the European integration and Euro-Atlantic course of reforms;

• promoting democratization processes;

• election monitoring in Ukraine;

• raising the image of Ukraine in the world

Promotion of the "Ukrainian world" - the integration of Ukrainian heritage into the world

Strengthening the international coalition to counter Russian aggression and disinformation:

• protection of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and de-occupation of Crimea and Donbas;

• strengthening the sanctions of the international community against Russia for its military aggression in Ukraine;

• termination of the Russian Nord Stream-2 project;

• the release of Ukrainian political prisoners and hostages held in Russia;

• raising the image of Ukraine in the world

Building prosperous and influential Ukrainian communities in the diaspora:

• protection of human and national rights and freedoms;

• preservation of Ukrainian national values;

• raising national consciousness;

• education of youth in the Ukrainian spirit

Strengthening ties between Ukrainians in the diaspora and Ukraine

International recognition of the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people

International recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and deepening of its ties with Ukrainians all over the world

Promote the granting of patriarchal status to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church

Since 1999, the UWC deployed election observation missions to monitor all presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine. In 2020, the UWC deployed its mission to observe the local elections.

UWC website: https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org

mailto:[email protected]://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/

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The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) is a non-partisan non-profit organization representing the Ukrainian community in the United States, is a member of the Ukrainian World Congress. It was founded during the First Ukrainian American Congress in Washington, D.C. on May 24, 1940, with the participation of more than 800 delegates from 168 localities.

The UCCA was initiated by fraternal organizations: the Ukrainian National Association, the Ukrainian Workingmen’s Association, the Providence Association of Ukrainian Catholics in America and the Ukrainian National Aid Association. In addition, the UCCA includes regional associations as well as national socio-political, professional, economic, women's, youth, veterans, scientific, cultural, church, and local organizations.

The activities of the UCCA are aimed at protecting the right of the Ukrainian people to live independently, at protecting religious freedom, culture and other forms of national expression not only in Ukraine but also of Ukrainian minorities abroad. It launched campaigns in support of political prisoners in Ukraine and the protection of human rights and organized numerous events in proper recognition of the Ukrainian ethnic group in the United States.

The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the national umbrella organization in the United States representing the interests of Americans of Ukrainian descent for 80 years has been conducting comprehensive civic education programs in Ukraine to teach citizens the benefits of democracy and free market economic reforms since 1991. A large part of the UCCA’s Civic Education work has included hosting delegations of international election observers to monitor Ukraine's presidential and parliamentary elections. UCCA Delegations have monitored every election held in Ukraine since 1991.

In 2004, during the historic Orange Revolution, the UCCA’s delegation, which numbered 2,408 individuals, was the largest delegation of International Election Observers ever registered by Ukraine’s Central Election Commission, surpassing the OSCE’s delegation by almost 1,000 observers.

UCCA website: https://ucca.org/

mailto:[email protected]://ucca.org/

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II. About UWC and UCCA Missions

The Central Election Commission has accredited 12 official observers from the Ukrainian World Congress and 14 official observers from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America to monitor local elections on October 25, 2020 (CEC resolutions № 294 of September 24, 2020, № 313 of September 29, 2020, and № 384 of October 15, 2020):

https://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-svitovogo-kongresu-ukraintsiv-na-mistsevih-viborah-25-zhovtnya-2020-roku.html

https://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-yevropeyskoi-merezhi-organizatsiy-z-monitoringu-viboriv-ukrainskogo-kongresovogo-komitetu-ameriki-slovatskoi-respubliki-ta-korolivstva-ispaniya-na-mists.html

https://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-komitetu-za-vidkritu-demokratiyu-natsionalnogo-demokratichnogo-institutu-mizhnarodnih-vidnosin-mizhnarodnogo-fondu-za-krashhe-upravlinnya-svitovogo-ko.html

Thus, on October 1, 2020, the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) has announced the launch of the UWC and UCCA Election Observervation Missions to Ukraine’s 2020 Local Elections to monitor and protect democracy in Ukraine and announced a call for volunteer observers for Ukraine’s local elections.

Announcement on the UWC website: https://www.ukrainianworldcongress.org/programs/elections-missions/

01.10.2020

UWC & UCCA Call for Volunteer Observers for Ukraine’s Local Elections

“On Sunday, October 25th, Ukrainians will vote for local council officials from the oblast down to the village levels.

These elections are significant because the role of local officials has been expanded by recent governmental decentralization reforms. The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) are seeking volunteers to serve as international election observers. Given the worldwide pandemic and various travel restrictions, the Election Observation Mission (EOM) will rely primarily on expats already residing in Ukraine.

The EOM will be co-Chaired by Borys Wrzesnewskyj, former Member of Parliament of Canada and Andriy Futey, UCCA President and UWC Vice President. Tamara Olexy, UWC Regional Vice President and UCCA Executive Director will serve as Mission Coordinator. Natalia Nemyliwska, Director of the UWC Economic Prosperity and Investment Committee, will serve as Chief Observer from UWC. Veteran UCCA International Election Monitor, Reno Domenico will serve as Chief Observer from UCCA.

mailto:[email protected]://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-svitovogo-kongresu-ukraintsiv-na-mistsevih-viborah-25-zhovtnya-2020-roku.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-svitovogo-kongresu-ukraintsiv-na-mistsevih-viborah-25-zhovtnya-2020-roku.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-yevropeyskoi-merezhi-organizatsiy-z-monitoringu-viboriv-ukrainskogo-kongresovogo-komitetu-ameriki-slovatskoi-respubliki-ta-korolivstva-ispaniya-na-mists.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-yevropeyskoi-merezhi-organizatsiy-z-monitoringu-viboriv-ukrainskogo-kongresovogo-komitetu-ameriki-slovatskoi-respubliki-ta-korolivstva-ispaniya-na-mists.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-yevropeyskoi-merezhi-organizatsiy-z-monitoringu-viboriv-ukrainskogo-kongresovogo-komitetu-ameriki-slovatskoi-respubliki-ta-korolivstva-ispaniya-na-mists.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-komitetu-za-vidkritu-demokratiyu-natsionalnogo-demokratichnogo-institutu-mizhnarodnih-vidnosin-mizhnarodnogo-fondu-za-krashhe-upravlinnya-svitovogo-ko.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-komitetu-za-vidkritu-demokratiyu-natsionalnogo-demokratichnogo-institutu-mizhnarodnih-vidnosin-mizhnarodnogo-fondu-za-krashhe-upravlinnya-svitovogo-ko.htmlhttps://act.cvk.gov.ua/acts/pro-akreditatsiyu-ofitsiynih-sposterigachiv-vid-komitetu-za-vidkritu-demokratiyu-natsionalnogo-demokratichnogo-institutu-mizhnarodnih-vidnosin-mizhnarodnogo-fondu-za-krashhe-upravlinnya-svitovogo-ko.html

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The joint UWC-UCCA EOM is made up of volunteers committed to Ukraine’s democratic progress and who will cover their own expenses related to their participation in the mission.

The EOM’s goal is to support an open and transparent electoral process in Ukraine. UWC and UCCA support Ukraine’s commitment to OSCE standards for free and fair elections that accurately reflect the will of the electorate, and do not support any candidate, political party or bloc. UWC & UCCA expect to release their findings at a virtual press conference following the elections.

“These elections are unlike any other in Ukraine’s history, not only because of the challenges posed by the pandemic but because local governments now have a greater say in their local affairs, which is a long overdue and welcome departure from the legacy of the highly-centralized, Soviet past. – stated Paul Grod, UWC President. – UWC remains committed to supporting transparency and fairness of electoral processes, even during these challenging times.”

“Safeguarding fair and transparent elections in Ukraine not only secures the democratic future of Ukraine and her people; Ukraine is on the frontline of a continental struggle for democratic values and human rights.” – stated Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Head of UWC Election Observation Mission.

To volunteer for the UWC-UCCA EOM please contact [email protected]

Note: The UWC & UCCA EOM will coordinate in-country travel, lodging, translators and guides (if necessary) and provide official Central Election Commission (CEC) international observer accreditation. EOM volunteers will be responsible for all costs associated with their participation in the Mission. Prior to elections, the EOM will hold a mandatory virtual training for its observers that will include instruction on how to operate UCCA’s unique on-line election app, hostile environment awareness training, a review of the new election law, COVID-related safety protocols and election observation best practices.

We encourage to carefully consider the risks related to COVID-19 before applying for this volunteer role, including the current situation in Ukraine and risks related to travel.”

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

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The UWC and UCCA Election Observation Missions’ core teams included:

Borys Wrzesnewskyj - Head of UWC Mission, and former Member of the Canada’s House of Commons (2004-2011, 2015-2019), during which time he served as a member of 11 committees including Chairing the Committee on Citizenship and Immigration and the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association (a joint committee of the House and Senate). He was also the founder and chair of both the Canada-Ukraine and Canada-Poland Parliamentary Friendship Groups. Entrepreneur, philanthropist. Organized Canadian election observation missions to Ukraine.

Andriy Futey – Head of Mission of the Ukrainian Congressional Committee of America, President of the Ukrainian Congressional Committee of America (UCCA), Vice President of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC), Honorary Consul of Ukraine in Ohio, USA, International Elections Observer in Ukraine since 1991.

Natalia Nemyliwska – UWC Chief Observer, Director of the UWC Economic Prosperity and Investment Committee. Director of the NATO Information and Documentation Center in Kyiv (2011-2017), Deputy Director of the NATO Information and Documentation Center in Kyiv (2008-2010); worked as a project manager in the government of Ontario (Canada) in the field of financial services.

Reno Domenico – UCCA Chief Observer, long-term international observer; president of Sterling Business School, Chair of Democrats Abroad - Ukraine

Tamara Olexy – UCCA Mission coordinator, UWC Regional Vice President and UCCA Executive Director, UCCA president (2008-2016) since mid-1990s, she has led civic education projects in Ukraine and participated in UCCA election observation missions in Ukraine.


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The UWC mission is completely independent and does not receive government funding.

The missions also employed Ukrainian electoral experts:

Yaroslav Sydorovych – head of the expert group, Head of the Main Department for Implementation of Reforms of the Administration of the President of Ukraine (August 2014 -November 2019); Director of the Department of Information and Analytical Support of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine (2005-2010); researcher at the Institute of Telecommunications and Global Information Space of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (2010-2014); mathematician.

Vilyen Pidgornyy – expert, UWC Senior Policy Analyst

The Office of the Ukrainian World Congress in Ukraine provided the necessary organizational and technical support to ensure the success of the UWC and UCCA Missions during the preparation and observation of the 2020 Local Elections.

The missions consist of volunteers who are committed to Ukraine's democratic progress.

Due to the global pandemic and travel restrictions, the Election Observation Missions consist of expats and Ukrainian diaspora who are already in Ukraine.

The purpose of the UWC and UCCA Election Observation Missions is to support an open and transparent electoral process in Ukraine. The UWC and the UCCA support Ukraine's commitment to OSCE standards for free and fair elections, which reflect the will of the electorate and do not support any candidate, political party or a bloc.

The UWC mission analyzes local elections based on Ukraine’s international commitments to democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech and a free and fair electoral process.


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UWC and UCCA international missions focused on the following key tasks:

● analysis of the legal basis of the electoral process, particularly, the Electoral Code of Ukraine, and Ukraine's commitment to an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe and in the context of other international standards of democratic expression of will;

● evaluating Ukraine's preparedness to ensure democratic elections, counteracting possible foreign interference including cyberattacks, manipulation and violations of the electoral process;

● monitoring of Ukraine's readiness to hold elections during the pandemic; ● media monitoring to identify any attempts to weaken Ukraine, jeopardize the integrity of

electoral processes or the legitimacy of democracy in Ukraine; ● observation of the electoral process on the eve of and on election day at polling stations,

as well as observing the vote counting process and the announcement of election results.

The UWC Mission had mobilized a group of experts and observers to conduct media monitoring. Observers monitored information in the media for any evidence of disinformation. Online information was checked for accuracy and classified according to sources and topics.

The Ukrainian World Congress Elections Monitoring Mission worked closely with the observation mission of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA). Combined the two missions employed 26 official observers from six countries.

Combined, the UWC and UCCA Election Observation Mission is the fifth largest international observation mission following the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR), European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO), National Democratic Institute for International Relations (NDI), and "International Community for Human Rights" NGO.

By its composition and scope, the UWC and UCCA Election Observation Missions were unique in that they:

➢ consisted of a majority of Ukrainian-speaking observers who were knowledgeable about the situation in Ukraine;

➢ included long-term observers who carried out media monitoring within and outside Ukraine and

➢ included official observers who monitored the electoral process during voting and the counting of votes at polling stations.

III. Domestic and international observers

The deadline for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), whose statutory activities include electoral process and observation, to apply to the Central Election Commission for permission to have their official observers participate in local elections is no later than forty days before election day - September 14, 2020.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) has authorized 116 NGOs to have official observers during the October 25, 2020 local elections. This includes 85 nationally registered organizations and 31 registered in specific regions of Ukraine.


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The deadline for submission to the Central Election Commission of proposals for the accreditation of official observers from foreign states and international organizations is no later than ten days before election day - October 14, 2020.

According to Article 58 of the Electoral Code of Ukraine, an official observer shall not be:

1) a person who is a citizen (subject) of a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state or an occupying state;

2) a person whose candidacy had been nominated or submitted by a state recognized by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine as an aggressor state or an occupying state.

Such rule has affected the work of the UWC Mission, as it has excluded citizens of the Russian Federation representing UWC member organizations from participating in the UWC Mission.

The Central Elections Commission has accredited 312 official observers to monitor local elections on October 25, 2020 including 41 – from six foreign states and 271 – from nine international organizations.

Information on official observers from foreign countries

(source: cvk.gov.ua)

Country Number of observers

Republic of Hungary 19

Slovak Republic 6

Republic of Kazakhstan 5

Federal Republic of Germany 5

Kingdom of Spain 4

Czech Republic 2

Total number of observers 41

mailto:[email protected]://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm064pt001f01=695pid019=191https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm064pt001f01=695pid019=167.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm064pt001f01=695pid019=61.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm064pt001f01=695pid019=122https://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm064pt001f01=695pid019=238.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm064pt001f01=695pid019=209.html

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Information on official observers from international organizations

(source: cvk.gov.ua)

Name of an organization Number of observers

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR)

88

European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO)

62

National Democratic Institute for International Relations (NDI)

35

"International Community for Human Rights" NGO 27

Committee for Open Democracy 24

Ukrainian Congress Committee of America 14

Ukrainian World Congress 12

International Non-Governmental Organization "Coordination Resource Center"

5

International Foundation for Better Governance 4

Total number of observers 271

IV. Background

The tradition of free elections on the territory of Ukraine has existed since ancient times. Throughout several centuries Ukraine elected its hetmans (leaders), the Treaty-Constitution by Pylyp Orlyk had been officially recognized as the first Cossack, Ukrainian Constitution. In the thirtieth year of Ukraine's independence, elections were held in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, adopted on June 28, 1996 at the 5th session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 2nd convocation, and the new election legislation.

The 2020 Local Elections in Ukraine took place at a time when for the seventh consecutive year the country had been struggling with the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine’s sovereign territory including the illegal annexation of Crimea and the occupation of parts of Donbas after the Revolution of Dignity.

In 2014, the people of Ukraine opposed the authoritarian regime of Viktor Yanukovych during the Revolution of Dignity, which ended with sniper fire and the deaths of more than a hundred peaceful Ukrainian demonstrators on February 18-20, 2014 in Kyiv.

Following the Revolution of Dignity, the Russian Federation invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and launched a military aggression in the eastern territories of Ukraine.

mailto:[email protected]://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=390.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=389.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=392.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=395.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=399.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=358.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=394.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=396.htmlhttps://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vm2020/pvm065pt001f01=695pt162f01=398.html

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The military aggression of the Russian Federation has impacted nearly 2 million people in Crimea, as well as 4.4 million people in eastern Ukraine.

As a result of the military aggression of the Russian Federation in Donbas, more than 13,000 people have been killed, and 30,000 wounded. As of September 1, 2020, 2,984 Ukrainian service members have been killed and 12,464 wounded.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the introduction of the ceasefire (July 27, 2020), the intensity of shellings decreased, which reduced casualties among the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the armistice (from 27.07.2020) as of December 28, 2020, the number of casualties amounts to 4 service members. There were 15 non-combat casualties among the service members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 21 service members were wounded.

Throughout the front most of the ceasefire violations by the enemy took place in the areas near Mariupol, Avdiivka, Toretsk and Popasnyansky direction.

According to the Unified Information Database on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), 1,458,977 IDPs from the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea were registered as of October 18, 2020. As of January 19, 2021, 1,458,912 internally displaced persons were registered.

Since the beginning of the military aggression, more than 2,500 people had been killed by exploding landmines, including more than 240 children; 1.9 million people continue to live in areas contaminated by landmines, 3.4 million people need humanitarian assistance, 2.2 million require medical aid and 1.2 million experienced food shortages.

More than 120 political prisoners and over 130 hostages continued to be illegally detained in the Russian Federation and in the occupied territories of Donbas.

The human rights situation in the occupied Crimean Peninsula continued to deteriorate, and the Russian Federation blocked access into the area by international humanitarian and human rights organizations.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) recorded daily ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, particularly, report № 228/2020 of September 24, 2020, indicated 80 ceasefire violations in the Donetsk oblast and one violation in Luhansk oblast on September 23, 2020. During the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded 157 ceasefire violations in Donetsk oblast and did not record any violations in Luhansk oblast.

The SMM report № 246/2020 of October 15, 2020, indicated one ceasefire violation in Donetsk oblast and did not record any violations in Luhansk oblast.

In a daily report № 15/2021 released by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine on 21 January 2021, the mission recorded 7 ceasefire violations in the Donetsk region. Reportedly, small arms fire was opened in the direction of a short-range SMM unmanned aerial vehicle near Talakivka, Donetsk region.

https://www.osce.org/uk/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine

The fact that the Russian Federation waged a hybrid military aggression against Ukraine had been widely acknowledged and repeatedly condemned by the international community, which provides military, financial and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 the following landmark events have occured:

mailto:[email protected]://www.osce.org/uk/special-monitoring-mission-to-ukraine

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• The coming into force of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, as well as the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Atomic Energy Community and its member states;

• The adoption of a visa-free regime for Ukrainian citizens travelling into Schengen countries;

• The signing and coming into force of the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement; • The granting of a Tomos of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine; • The adoption of constitutional amendments reflecting Ukraine’s strategic goal of

becoming a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union; • The holding of presidential and early parliamentary elections in 2019; • The adoption of the Electoral Code of Ukraine – the act of harmonization of electoral

law according to Articles 4 and 6 of the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement.

According to Article 133 of the Constitution of Ukraine, the system of administrative-territorial organization of Ukraine includes the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, oblasts, raions, cities, districts in cities, towns and villages. Ukraine consists of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, such oblasts as Vinnytsia, Volyn, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomyr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sumy, Ternopil, Khmelnytsky, Cherkasy, Chernivtsi and Chernihiv as well as the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol.

According to the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine, there are 29,710 settlements (cities, urban-type settlements and villages) in Ukraine.


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By 2020, there were 11,694 territorial communities (city, town, village councils) in 490 districts in 27 regions (oblasts, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol)

On June 12, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted 24 orders on the designation of the administrative centers and approval of the territories of regional communities. As a result, 1,469 territorial communities have been established in the country (including 31 territorial communities in the uncontrolled territories in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and within the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts).

Ukraine had a total of 490 districts and the same number of raion councils and raion state administrations. They all functioned in the same way, but the workload was very different due to the size and population of the districts. For example, there were six raions with the population of up to 10,000 people, nine raions with population of more than 100,000 people and three raions had population exceeding 150,000 people. They all had the same functionality, but the amount of work was different. Also, 26 raions already had communities with enough capacity and resources, while 173 raions had established communities in 50% of the areas or a little over that. Since most of the powers had been transferred to the communities from the raion-level authorities the system was not balanced out. Therefore, the Government and the Parliament had to decide on how to reorganize power at the raion level.

On July 17, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine issued the Resolution № 807-IX “On the formation and liquidation of districts” that stipulates the liquidation of 490 districts (raions ) and


33



creation of 136 new consolidated districts (raions) (including 10 raions in the in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, three raions in Donetsk oblast and 4 raions in Luhansk oblast).

The reform of the administrative-territorial structure at the raion level began in December 2020, after the law on the division of powers and resources between raions and communities came into force. It is expected that there will be a transition period up to mid-2021, just to make sure that the process, quality and availability of services that were provided at the raion level would not deteriorate or decrease.

Ukraine's state policy in the field of local self-government is based on the interests of residents of territorial communities and on the decentralization of power - i.e. the transfer of large part of decision power, resources and responsibilities from the executive bodies to local governments. This policy is based on the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the best world standards of public relations in this area.

The legislative basis for a radical change in the system of government and its territorial basis at all levels began to take shape in 2014.

In April 2014, the Government approved the main guideline document - the Concept of Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Government. Following the Concept was the approval of the Action Plan which launched the reform.

In order to implement the provisions of the Concept and the tasks of the Action Plan, it was necessary first of all to make appropriate amendments to the Constitution of Ukraine, as well as to form a package of new legislation.

Amendments to the Constitution were to address the establishment of executive bodies of oblast and raion councils, reorganization of local state administrations into control and supervisory bodies and setting up a clear definition of the administrative-territorial unit - the community. However, political circumstances did not allow the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to adopt the amendments to the Constitution on decentralization submitted by the President of Ukraine. Since then the following set of new legislation has been developed, introduced and remained in effect.: - Laws on Amendments to the Budget and Tax Codes of Ukraine on Financial Decentralization; - Law of Ukraine "On Voluntary Association of Territorial Communities" that made it possible to start forming a sustainable basic level of local self-government. In 2015-2019, 982 united territorial communities were voluntarily created in Ukraine, which included about 4,500 former local communities with a population of 11 million people; - Law of Ukraine "On Cooperation of Territorial Communities" that created a mechanism for solving common problems of communities: waste disposal and recycling, development of common infrastructure; - Law of Ukraine “On Principles of State Regional Policy”; - laws on expanding the powers of local governments and optimizing the provision of administrative services. This allowed delegating to local governments the appropriate level of authority to provide basic administrative services: residence registration, issuance of passport documents, state registration of legal entities and individuals, entrepreneurs, associations of citizens, registration of civil status, property rights, resolution of land issues, etc.

The new legal framework has significantly strengthened the motivation for inter-municipal consolidation in the country, created the appropriate legal conditions and mechanisms for the


34



formation of sustainable territorial communities of villages, settlements, cities, which unite their efforts to solve problems.

On July 15, 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted Resolution 795-IX on calling regular local elections on October 25, 2020.

The 2020 local elections in Ukraine took place when Ukraine faced challenges to its territorial integrity, such as the illegal occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea and the ongoing military aggression in its eastern territories. This situation also made Ukraine vulnerable to potential foreign interference in the electoral process.

Ukrainians voted for deputies of local councils, from the oblast to the village level. If in 2015 Ukrainians had elected more than 162,000 deputies of local councils and more than 10,200 mayors of city, settlement and village communities, then according to the new electoral legislation in 2020, more than 43,000 deputies and more than 1,400 mayors of city, settlement, and village communities were elected. These elections were particularly important as the role of local councils was expanded through decentralization reforms.

2020

2015

0

20000

40000

60000

80000

100000

120000

140000

Village

councils

Settleme

nt

councils

District

councils

in cities

City

councils

Raion

councils

Oblast,

Kyiv city

councils

2020 14006 10284 562 11124 5366 1780

2015 120266 12566 1032 11200 15135 1820

Comparative analysis of the number of elected positions of deputies in the local elections of 2015 and 2020

(source cvk.gov.ua)

mailto:[email protected]://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=69402

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Therefore, it was extremely important for Ukraine in 2020 to ensure free, fair and transparent local elections for its citizens, who, like all other free peoples, have the full right to express their opinion in the election of deputies to local councils and heads of local communities during the democratic process without foreign interference.

According to the Electoral Code of Ukraine, the Local Elections on October 25, 2020 were based on four local electoral systems:

1. A majority system of relative majorities in multi-member electoral districts (communities with population less than 10,000 voters) designed to elect deputies of village, settlement, and city councils. The voters elected 785 deputies of village, settlement, and city councils using this system;

2. A system of proportional representation using open electoral lists of deputy candidates in multi-member electoral districts designed to elect members of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea as well as members of the oblast, raion , raion in a city, city, village, settlement councils (applicable in communities with a population of 10,000 or more voters) from regional organizations of political parties. The allows to elect deputies of 22 oblast councils; 119 raion councils; 636 city, settlement, and village councils; and 15 raion in city councils;

A total of 218,770 candidates for 25,952 seats have been registered in the electoral lists of 792 local councils, whose deputies are elected by a proportional representation system;

3. A majoritarian system of relative majority plurality in a single village, settlement, or city electoral district was designed for the election of village, settlement, city mayors in communities with populations of less than 75,000 voters. The voters had the opportunity to elect 333 city mayors, 428 settlement mayors, and 623 village mayors using this system;

2020

2015

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

9000

10000

Village Settlement City

2020 623 428 369

2015 9219 612 378

Comparative analysis of the number of elected positions of mayors in the local elections of 2015 and 2020 (source

cvk.gov.ua)


36



4. A majoritarian system of absolute majority plurality in a single city electoral district regulates the election of mayors in communities with 75,000 or more voters. This system was designed to elect mayors of 37 large cities.

V. Legal framework

Ukraine has constitutional guarantees and international commitments to democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech and free and fair elections.

The legal framework governing elections in Ukraine is based upon the following laws: a) Constitution of Ukraine; b) Election Code of Ukraine; c) Law on the State Register of Voters of Ukraine; d) Law of Ukraine on the Central Election Commission; e) Code of Administrative Proceedings; f) Code of Administrative Offences; g) The Criminal Code of Ukraine; and h) Code of Criminal Procedures. Below are excerpts from salient provisions of these laws:

CONSTITUTION OF UK

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