Electoral reform 2020 in Ukraine

Abstract

In 2020 a long-term codification of Ukraine electoral legislation was finished, which resulted in the adoption of a normative legal act of great historical value, namely Electoral Code.

The article tells about the necessity of holding electoral reform in Ukraine, it justifies the necessity and importance of Electoral Code adoption, analyses the fundamental changes concerning organizing, preparing and holding Parliamentary, Presidential and Local Elections in relation to cancelling mixed election system for Parliamentary Election, establishing multi-mandate electoral districts for some Local Elections, disqualification of people’s deputies from self-nomination, increasing the sum of election deposit for the President of Ukraine Election and clarification of the requirements concerning the candidates for deputy resident qualification. The article also substantiates the importance of gender-based quotas implementation in order to maintain gender balance in party lists and to adhere to Constitutional principles of gender equality. The main objective of the article is to investigate the regulations of Ukraine Electoral Code, which give rise to new challenges. These regulations in particular deal with providing electors with the right to influence election results due to introduction practically closed lists for Parliamentary elections, proportional division of the local elections results under the plurality voting system in multi-mandate electoral districts, the responsibility of people’s deputies to the electors on account of their disqualification from self-nomination.

The article proposes implementing a complex procedure, which can make the amending of Ukraine Electoral Code possible, in order to eliminate the possibility of abuse of electoral systems and boosting the fair realization of people’s electoral rights. In the process of the further electoral legislation improvement, the article offers not to recur to the same procedures during different types of elections, to cancel ineffective and outdated regulations, not to include general regulations, which do not belong to its subject, to rely on the fundamental principles of law, follow international recommendations, analyze experiences and best practices of foreign states and appeal to them.