By Olena Boyko, Member of Parliament of Ukraine of the 7th convocation, Candidate of Sciences in Public Administration

The Central Election Commission has recently stated: “In some AHs, organisation of the electoral process was at risk of failure because of the evasion of certain members of rayon election commissions from fulfilling their duties.”

Of course, there are different reasons for refusing to work in commissions, in each case they may be different. But let's sort it all out.

1. Are territorial election commission members entitled to resign or terminate their mandate ahead of schedule? Yes, they are! The current rayon TECs (462 of them) operate on a permanent basis and were formed in 2015 before the regulsr local elections.

2. Who formed the rayon election commissions? According to paragraph 2 of Art. 22 of the Law on Local Election, the right to submit candidates for the territorial election commissions is entitled to:

1) a local organisation of a political party, formation of a deputy faction of which was announced at the first regular session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the current convocation – two persons for mandatory inclusion,

2) local organization of a political party, registered under the procedure established by the law in the respective administrative-territorial unit – 1 person, inclusion by lot.

3. What should the subjects of the submission do now? Replace their members who cannot (do not) want to be TEC members. All would be well if it wasn't for a legal problem.

4. What should be done? Don't spread panic! The solution to the problem is in the hands of the CEC itself.

Therefore, there are two conclusions here.

1. There are no threats to the first elections in AHs, on the grounds announced by the CEC.
2. The CEC has every legal basis for resolving the situation.

In any case, the first election in December 2019 should take place even with the limping of legal norms – there is for sure a way out from the situation.

The full version is available in Ukrainian – please click HERE