On September 20, 2018, after three years of ineffective attempts to renew the composition of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and to end the lasting political crisis around this issue, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine finally terminated the powers of 13 CEC members and reshuffled its composition.

This is an important step towards ensuring the legitimacy of the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2019, their compliance with the international standards and public recognition of their results. The appointment of the new CEC members will also ensure certainty in the work of the election administration authorities and will create preconditions for implementing crucially important internal reforms aimed at increasing CEC transparency and inclusivity.

At the same time, Reanimation Package of Reforms admits that the process of CEC reshuffle was accompanied by numerous problematic issues. In particular, 12 CEC members held their positions in the CEC for over 11 years instead of 7, as stipulated by the Law “On the Central Election Commission”, which is an inadmissible precedent. The process of nominating candidates to the CEC and their approval by the President of Ukraine and parliamentary factions and groups was non-transparent and heavily politicized. In the course of candidates’ nomination for the CEC, proposals from one of the opposition factions were not taken into account. None of its representatives was included in the list of CEC candidates, which contradicts the Venice Commission Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters. According to the Code, election administration body should include representatives of all parties represented in the parliament.

The Law of Ukraine #2550-VIII dated September 18, 2018, which amended Article 6 of the Law “On the Central Election Commission” as relates to increasing the quantitative composition of the CEC, deserves critical assessment. Despite the fact that this decision unblocked the CEC reshuffle, it was adopted in violation of the constitutional principle of personal voting, as well as the Rules of Procedure of the Verkhovna Rada. In particular, short deadlines for reviewing this law prevented the registration of alternative drafts, its proper financial and economic substantiation, as well as thorough discussion by the parliament. Although international standards do not determine the number of members of higher election administration bodies, an increase in the CEC composition from 15 to 17 members was carried out without proper justification.

In view of these factors and in order to ensure unbiased and effective operation of the new Central Election Commission Reanimation Package of Reforms calls on:

The President of Ukraine:

• to submit a candidate to the CEC from the respective opposition faction in order to ensure representation of all parliamentary factions and groups in the CEC;

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine:

• to appoint a candidate nominated by the President of Ukraine from the respective opposition faction to a vacant CEC position;
• to introduce amendments to the Law “On the Central Election Commission”, which would (a) make it impossible for CEC members to hold their offices for an unlimited period of time, (b) prohibit participation of members, whose terms of office were terminated, in the CEC meetings and their voting on the issues on the CEC agenda;
• to amend the Law “On the Central Election Commission” as relates to the quorum provisions and the required number of votes for CEC decision making, which are not currently defined by the law as a result of the increase in the quantitative composition of the CEC;

The Central Election Commission:

• immediately after the newly appointed CEC members assume office, to ensure the election of the CEC Chairperson, Deputy Chairpersons and Secretary;
• to unblock first local elections in the amalgamated territorial communities by appointing such elections on the basis of the existing submissions from the regional state administrations drawn up in compliance with the statutory requirements;
• to initiate the process of internal reforms aimed at implementing the principles of CEC transparency, professionalism and inclusivity, including the formation of its expert council, update of its official website, publicizing elections results in the open data format, among others.