On September 1, the election process started for the by-elections of people's deputies of Ukraine in constituencies No. 184 (Kherson region) and No. 197 (Cherkasy region). The elections are scheduled for October 31, 2021, and will have to take place because in the 2020 local elections a people's deputy Ihor Kolykhayev won as mayor of Kherson and an MP Olexandr Skichko was appointed as head of the Cherkasy Regional State Administration.

Today, on September 28, representatives of the Civil Network OPORA and the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption signed a Memorandum of Cooperation to prevent and combat political corruption, including during election campaigns.

Although the official election campaign for the early mayoral election in Kharkiv did not start until September 11, the actual fight for the minds and hearts of Kharkiv residents began long before that date.

Respondents were asked to fill in 7 sample ballots. In the briefing, they were asked to imagine that they were at the polling station during rush hour when there was a large queue of people behind them. At the same time, they were asked to read the information on the ballot and make their choice based on it. The interviewer asked to choose the parties/candidates that they liked the most by name or by their activity/work. Different samples of ballots were filled in turn, after which the filled...

On the first anniversary of the unprecedented crackdown on the Human Rights Center Viasna ("Viasna") in Belarus, 23 international and Belarusian human rights organizations are launching a campaign to demand the release of seven detained Viasna members, and highlight the plight of hundreds of others, who have been prosecuted and jailed solely for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.

Restrictions on political competition, the use of administrative resources, and financial incentives for voters are the key risks that may affect the fairness of the early elections of Kharkiv Mayor on October 31, 2021.

On August 9, 2021, the draft Law of Ukraine “On the Principles of the State Policy in Transition” (No. 5844) was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, some provisions of which concern the election process and referenda. The draft law was introduced to the Parliament by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and has been developed by the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine.

On September 1, the election process started for the by-elections of the People's Deputy in constituencies No.184 (with a center in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region) and No.197 (with a center in Zolotonosha, Cherkasy region). OPORA observers have registered the actual start of the early campaign by potential candidates in the constituencies. In particular, in August, the activity of 12 potential candidates was recorded: 9 – in a single-member constituency 197, and 3 – in a single-member constitu...