Civic activists defend the rights of vulnerable voters

On March 21-22, 2019, the Human Rights Educational House – Chernihiv hosted a training session on “Protecting the Rights of Vulnerable Voters.” The participants were public activists, human rights defenders, and journalists from all over the country who are engaged in or interested in strengthening electoral participation and civic engagement of informationally and socially isolated voters.

The goal of the training was to strengthen the capacity of the training participants to ensure a transparent electoral process for vulnerable groups.

The trainer of the event, a leading expert of the NGO “Committee of Voters of Ukraine”

Denys Rybachok

, introduced the attendees to the practical aspects of organizing the electoral process at special polling stations, responsibility for electoral violations, and ways to counteract unfair practices in elections. During practical tasks and group discussions, the participants compared the national legislation on elections with international standards for conducting fair and free elections.

On the second day of the training, the electoral rights of internally displaced persons and labor migrants were considered, as well as the peculiarities of voting in penitentiary, medical, and social-medical institutions. Special attention was paid to the peculiarities of voting by place of residence, the electoral rights of persons with disabilities, the procedure for observing elections, and the rights of observers.

According to

Denis Rybachko

, 1,248 special polling stations have already been established in Ukraine, of which 981 are in inpatient medical institutions, 154 are in penal institutions and pre-trial detention centers. Therefore, it is public activists who have a special task in ensuring access to electoral procedures for vulnerable categories of voters and monitoring the electoral process in such “closed” institutions.

The event was organized by the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights with the support of the Democracy Promotion Foundation of the US Embassy in Ukraine.