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