Human rights activists will promote free and fair local elections

Counseling voters and candidates, public lectures in communities, and training for members of precinct election commissions are just some of the activities that the All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid will conduct to facilitate transparent and fair first elections in newly formed united territorial communities.

The project is being implemented in 10 regions of our country, including Chernihiv Oblast. It is being implemented by

All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid

in cooperation with

Chernihiv Public Committee for Human Rights

and with the support of

National Endowment for Democracy (NED)

.

As part of the project, voters are informed about their legal rights and the possibilities of protecting their right to elect or be elected to local government positions. Qualified lawyers provide primary and secondary legal assistance: they advise voters and candidates, in particular, via Skype, prepare the necessary procedural documents and, if necessary, represent people’s interests in courts. The main target group of the project is voters who will participate in local elections to newly created united territorial communities.

“It is very important that residents of newly created ATCs participate in the elections as actively as possible in order to elect exactly the kind of government they need. In my opinion, local elections are even more important than national elections. Because it is in local elections that people vote for what kind of hospital and school will be, what roads will be, how the community will develop. Here, every vote is important, because 90% of people are convinced that their vote is worthless and there is no point in going to the polls,” says Vitaliy Misyats, executive director of the All-Ukrainian Coalition for Legal Aid.

One of the most important tasks for the state today is to hold free, fair and transparent local elections to the newly created united territorial communities. First of all, it is necessary to ensure that all voters have the opportunity to vote and make an informed choice. In particular, past experience of elections in Ukraine has shown that a significant number of citizens have been deprived of their civil rights due to violations of the legislation on voter lists or problems with proper registration. This is especially relevant today, when many citizens are outside their permanent place of residence. Therefore, members of the Coalition will provide all possible assistance to voters so that such cases are as few as possible.

The project “Free and Fair Local Elections” is being implemented in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Rivne, Volyn, Sumy, Khmelnytskyi, Vinnytsia and Chernihiv regions.

To receive free legal assistance in the field of electoral law, citizens can contact

the project partners in the regions: