Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights received official permission from the CEC to observe the elections

The Law of Ukraine “On Elections of People’s Deputies of Ukraine” allows public organizations to have official observers during the elections of people’s deputies. Unfortunately, until now, local public organizations of Chernihiv region have not received such permission from the Central Election Commission due to certain requirements for the status and level of development of the organization.

Hence, as a rule, either representatives of political forces or representatives of all-Ukrainian and international organizations participated in the observation at polling stations. This did not always have a positive impact on the development of civil society in the region and discriminated against the third sector of the region.

Therefore, the Resolution of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine No. 533 of August 20, 2012, according to which the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights was granted the right to have official observers during the elections of people’s deputies of Ukraine on October 28, 2012 in the city of Chernihiv (electoral districts No. 205 and 206), was good news.

Thanks to the aforementioned resolution, human rights defenders received a whole list of tools and means to protect the electoral rights of Chernihiv residents. In particular, according to the aforementioned law, an official observer from a public organization has the right to be at polling stations during voting; observe the actions of commission members, including during the issuance of ballots to voters and the counting of votes; take photos, films, audio and video recordings; to be present at meetings of precinct and district election commissions of the relevant territorial election districts, including during the counting of votes at the election precinct and the establishment of voting results; to receive copies of protocols on the transfer of ballots, on the counting of votes and the establishment of voting results, to draw up acts on the detection of violations of electoral legislation and submit them to the relevant election commission or to the court; to take necessary measures to stop illegal actions during voting and the counting of votes at the election precinct, etc.