OPORA continues to observe the election process and activities of election commissions. As of 12:00, commissions have been properly fulfilling their duty to create conditions for the free vote, but some procedural violations and organizational problems remain a key challenge at this stage of the process.

Election of council members heads of communities is taking place on 25 October 2020 at 29,084 polling stations, with unprecedented anti-epidemic measures. In general, OPORA's observers give a positive assessment of preparatory meetings and start of the vote, but noted some procedural issues and organizational difficulties in the work of precinct election commissions.

October 25 is the Election Day in 2020 local elections. This year, Ukrainians elect representatives to local self-government bodies: members of oblast and raion councils, as well as members of local councils and their heads in 1,439 communities. Ukrainians will be able to exercise their right to vote at polling stations from 8:00 AM to 20:00 PM.

Facebook has deleted a network of pages, which had been sharing fake opinion polls and via fake users (bots) during the election campaign

Local authorities still have the time to implement the protection standards against COVID-19 in elections, regardless of current differences in protection means supply at election commissions and polling stations in communities. As for public activities of parties and candidates, we regret to say that typical abuses and violations of electoral standards were present, and have negatively impacted the competitiveness of election process. This information was presented by representatives of Civi...

The local elections in Ukraine are taking place while the country is facing the first implementation of the new Electoral Code, a considerable strengthening of the political parties' role in the nomination phase, and the spread of COVID-19. This context puts a serious burden on the election commission members, other election process actors, law enforcement agencies, and the central and local authorities. In the run-up to the election, a key objective for the local authorities and election com...

On October 8-9, Hungarian State Secretary for National Policy Arpad Janos Potapi, campaigned for the KMKS Party of Hungarians of Ukraine during a visit to Zakarpattia, including some facilities in Uzhhorod, as well as Uzhhorod and Berehovo raions. Civil Network OPORA has noted a number of facts that violate Ukrainian legislation, and appealed to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

OPORA appealed to the European Solidarity party for e-mails that allegedly involve its communication with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), which were mentioned by public sources on 9 October. Having received the data, OPORA asked two independent organizations, particularly the Digital Security Lab (Ukraine) and the International Centre for Defence and Security (Estonia), for an expert assessment. They both gave opinions that confirm that Russian-origin offenders imitated the corresponde...