Regular local elections in Ukraine, which according to electoral law should have taken place on the last Sunday of October this year simultaneously across the country, will not be held, according to the Central Election Commission.
“The date of such elections shall be set by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine no later than 90 days before the day of voting. In connection with the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, martial law has been introduced, during which no elections shall be organized or held. Therefore, the decision to schedule regular local elections has not been made by parliament,” the CEC said in a statement on its website.
In view of this, the CEC states that there are no grounds for submitting candidates to local territorial election commissions or for forming new territorial election commissions at various levels to prepare and conduct local elections in Ukraine.
The CEC also drew the attention of local political party organizations, which are responsible for submitting candidates to the TEC, that the prerequisite for submitting nominations is the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of a decision on the appointment of regular local elections and the determination of the date for their conduct.
“If it weren’t for Russia’s aggression and the terrible war it started against Ukraine, we would now be entering the period of preparation and organization of regular local elections. In particular, in accordance with the requirements of the electoral law, local branches of political parties would have the opportunity to submit nominations for the new composition of territorial election commissions. However, during the period of martial law, no elections are organized or held, so the members of the TEC, whose composition was formed during the regular local elections on October 25, 2020, continue to exercise their powers until the formation of the new composition of the relevant territorial election commission,” explained Commission member Serhiy Postyvy.
