New Election Law: Key Legal Vulnerabilities for Fraud

Denys Kovryzhenko,

Agency for Legislative Initiatives

Main Weaknesses of the New Election Law Law

Territorial organization of the election Establishment of the election commissions Voter registration and voter lists MP candidates nomination Media coverage of the election Voting and counting procedures EDR and liability

Territorial organization of the election

Rayon and city boundaries may not be considered in boundary delimitation process

12% deviation allows to create more districts in Eastern Ukraine and less districts in Western Ukraine

Assigning the voters abroad to districts in Kiev can be politicized. No possibilility to vote outside of diplomatic institutions

2500 voters per precinct – need in review of the precinct boundaries

The procedure for establishment of the permanent precincts is not clearly defined

Establishment of the election commissions

Selection of the members to EC can be uneasy task for factions formed by blocs

The members of the commissions can be replaced only if the number of members decreases below the lowest level (e.g. to 11 for DECs)

The procedure for drawing lots is not defined, rejection of the nomination does not require decision of commission

Voter registration and voter lists

Weak party control over registration proces (few copies of the VR database per each party to be checked within a narrow timeframe)

Weak control over transferring the voter lists to the PECs from RMBs

Almost unrestricted possibility of changing the place of voting without change of the voting address creates possibilities for fraud and “migration” of the voters

The possibility of amending the lists on the day of election, even if based only on a court decision, retains the risk of manipulation

Candidates’ nomination

Both cancellation and rejection of registration are uneasy tasks

BUT Nomination in violation of a party’s charter

or law does not result in rejection of the candidates – nominations can be done only on paper

Media coverage of election

Severe sanctions remain Additional obligations are imposed No restrictions on checks on media (e.g.

by tax authorities etc.)

Voting and counting procedures

Documents on the receipt of the ballot papers are not required to be posted on the CEC website

No requirements on the number of voting booths per precinct

PEC is not required to provide the DEC with the data on home voting

The number of ballot papers in each ballot box shall not be entered into the vote counting protocol

Election cannot be invalidated both nationally and within a district

Thresholds for declaring the voting at the election precinct invalid still remain

The CEC is entitled to establish election results within a district; procedure is not defined

EDR and liability for offences

Narrow timeframes for consideration of complaints and lawsuits (2 days)

Observers are not entitled to challenge decisions, actions and omissions with the PECs and DECs

Certain court decisions cannot be appealed No liability for some offences or no proportionate

and dissuasive sanctions for violations

Conclusions

In a number of provisions, new law is better than the majority and WG draft

However, some possibilities for fraud and manipulation still exist

Due to the system applied to parliamentary election (parallel system) observation should cover the period starting from the establishment of the precincts and districts until final declaration of the election results