The tasks facing Ukraine in organizing and conducting post-war elections were discussed on March 23 during the forum “Key Challenges of Electoral Democracy After the Great War”. The event, organized by the Civic Network OPORA, brought together members of parliament, representatives of government bodies and civil society, as well as experts in electoral law to exchange views.
For Ukraine, holding elections after the end of the great war is an extremely difficult task. Since December of last year, a working group has been operating in parliament to develop new legislation aimed at addressing the various challenges associated with post-war elections. Participants of the forum shared their vision of the mechanisms and instruments that should ensure the future infrastructure for the free expression of citizens’ will.
The main issues that need to be addressed:
- Organization of elections along the line of demarcation;
- Ensuring the electoral rights of military personnel – both to vote and to be elected;
- Conducting elections in the foreign electoral district, establishing a network of polling stations abroad;
- The electoral system – for parliamentary elections at both the national and local levels;
- Lustration – whether individuals suspected of collaboration may become candidates;
- Conducting campaigning and the impact of coordinated external informational interference and manipulation, etc.
A general-level issue for all organizational processes is ensuring a balance between transparency, inclusiveness, and democratic standards of electoral procedures and the state’s security interests, particularly protection against external informational influence. Everyone agrees that Russia will interfere in the elections at all stages of the process and is already, evidently, preparing for this. Moreover, according to participants, such influence will not be crude but rather very subtle – as was the case, for example, in Romania and Moldova.
Oleksandr Burmahin, a member of the National Council, identified digital platforms as the main source of danger in the context of spreading manipulations, deepfakes, and informational influence on elections. “Coordinated foreign interference (FIMI) is a huge threat,” he emphasized. And while European countries in recent years have created infrastructure to counter FIMI, in Ukraine there are not even legislative definitions of what “FIMI,” “disinformation,” or “information manipulations” mean. Several bodies are engaged in countering these phenomena, but their mandates do not directly cover coordinated foreign informational interference, meaning they lack comprehensive tools and sanction mechanisms to respond. In such situations, well-coordinated action and swift responses are especially needed.
Oleksandr Burmahin noted that when developing mechanisms to respond to such threats, trust of society in government institutions, as well as joint participation and responsibility in shaping policies, are of crucial importance.
“If we trust our institutions in this process, we can establish stronger mechanisms. And of course, they will potentially carry risks for human rights and freedoms. But if we do not trust, then we create light, declarative instruments – and in that case, protection will be weak.”
According to Oleksandr Burmahin, effective counteraction to foreign informational influence requires designating a main body responsible for this sphere with strong analytical capabilities, as well as defining a circle of other responsible institutions and ensuring the organization of interaction among them.
With regard to the powers in the sphere of shared information platforms (social networks), in the event of detecting coordinated external interference of high intensity (with clearly defined criteria), such bodies should initiate communication with the platform. If there is no response, sanctions should be applied, among which temporary blocking (until the completion of the electoral process) is possible.
Building all the mechanisms to ensure transparent and free elections takes quite a lot of time. It involves the logic of processes, the ways of their implementation, the development and coordination of the concept, its legislative formalization and implementation. Therefore, participants in this process must make decisions quickly and responsibly.
The forum is meant to give impetus to the adoption of necessary decisions regarding future post-war elections. At the same time, Gediminas Navickas, Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, expressed confidence that Ukraine is capable of holding democratic elections.
“We believe that you have all the prerequisites for conducting fair elections in Ukraine with full respect for all fundamental, required, and necessary rights. We see your commitment, your passion in this matter.”
He noted that the EU will support Ukraine in the electoral process and assist to ensure that the elections are conducted successfully.
