Monitoring report “Observance of voters’ rights in places of deprivation of liberty in Chernihiv region”

The publication highlights the results of monitoring the main preparatory measures, the voting process and vote counting at special polling stations established in inpatient medical institutions, in penal institutions and pre-trial detention centers of Chernihiv region during the snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on October 26, 2014.

The snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine 2014 were held taking into account changes in the relevant law regarding the technical and legal support of elections. Given these and a number of other changes, many procedures and actions of voters differed from previous campaigns. It was especially difficult for voters who voted in the snap elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on October 26, 2014, at special polling stations set up in inpatient medical facilities, penal institutions, and pre-trial detention centers to navigate the electoral legislation and effectively exercise their electoral rights.

That is why, in order to help voters who voted in “special” conditions to understand the complex legal framework and fully exercise their right to vote in the early elections of the President of Ukraine, the Chernihiv Public Committee for the Protection of Human Rights implemented an initiative to promote the free expression of voters’ rights in special institutions, i.e. in “places of deprivation of liberty” (within the meaning of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture), and also monitored compliance with these rights within the framework of the project “Active Protection of the Rights of “Special” Voters in Chernihiv Oblast 2014” with the support of the project “United for Reforms (UNITER)”, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine.

The main achievements of the project and the results of direct observation of voting in places of deprivation of liberty in Chernihiv Oblast were compiled in .

You can also download the Report in the section .