6 months – this is the optimal amount of time that should pass before the start of the electoral process after the end of martial law. This is the opinion of the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform, the Civil Network OPORA, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Ukraine and many other civil society organizations.

Andriy Mahera, constitutional law expert at the Center of Policy and Legal Reform, told First Western TV channel that the 6-month term is also supported by the leaders of parliamentary factions, but this term is not in the current Electoral Code.

Today, there are about 26 million voters in the government-controlled territory of Ukraine and about 7 million in the temporarily occupied territories. Among these 26 million are voters who may be abroad. The problem now is that not all citizens abroad have registered with their consulates, so the Government and the CEC have incomplete information about the number of voters abroad. 

Andriy Mahera is confident: “This issue may be the subject of a future law on the peculiarities of holding the first post-war elections – the introduction of active registration of Ukrainian voters to inform them of their location and desire to vote, to create appropriate conditions for this.”

As for ensuring voting abroad, the expert emphasized that any elements of electronic voting or the use of certain electronic resources in elections in the modern period are impossible. At least because it is impossible to guarantee the observance of such principles of electoral law as the principle of free elections and the principle of secrecy of voting. The same nuances will be a problem in the case of voting by mail.

One of the hypothetical options that is legally possible is to open additional polling stations outside the premises of the Embassies and Missions of Ukraine. However, this is quite difficult to do, as it would require obtaining the consent of the respective states, concluding an international agreement, harmonizing the legislation of these states and Ukrainian, addressing security issues, and incurring huge costs.

In addition, according to Mr. Andriy, about a quarter of voting premises in Ukraine need at least minor repairs or cannot be restored due to the war. This is also an important issue for the Central Election Commission to monitor, which it is currently doing