Ukraine's electoral law should be amended, but not just before election, say experts
Kyiv, February 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The law on the presidential election has flaws that allow violations that may affect the outcome of Ukraine's presidential ballot, Ukrainian and foreign political analysts said during a roundtable at Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
Member of the Polish Sejm of the fifth convocation, and Director of the Fourth Channel of Polish Radio Mateusz Piskorski said that foreign observers had noticed a number of shortcomings in the electoral process and Ukraine's legislation during the first round of the election. Stable legislation can guarantee a transparent and democratic election, Piskorski said, adding that according to democratic standards the election laws should be amended no later than a year before the ballot.
"This [the amendment of the law shortly before the election] is a problem for all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe that do not have much experience of democracy," he said.
While listing the flaws in Ukraine's legislation, Piskorski named a lack of equal opportunities for presidential candidates, who didn't have an equal access to the media ahead of the first round of the election because of the high cost of air time, and the refusal by the CEC to register some official observers from international organizations and foreign states.
"We hope that these shortcomings will be rectified during the term of the next president of Ukraine," the Polish analyst said.
In turn, a teacher of theory and history of the state and law at the law department of Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, Oleh Vernyk, said that one of the major problems during the first round of the presidential election was so-called "family voting," when one voter was issued ballot papers for all family members. This is especially important in the regions, where many residents are working abroad.
Vernyk called on district election commissions to demand the Border Service submit data about citizens who left Ukraine three days before the election.