The Central Election Commission has adopted a new procedure for an election address change, which allows internally displaced persons to vote in local elections at their place of residence. This Central Election Commission took this decision on its May 18 meeting.
16 members of the CEC voted for this decision. The resolution will come into force on July 1, 2020.
As the CEC Deputy Chairman Serhiy Dubovyk said when reporting on the topic, this is a historical document for the CEC, which was widely discussed by both professional circles and representatives of the public. "Together we wrote this document, which gives internally displaced persons an opportunity to vote, as well as ties to communities where they live. We have taken into account almost all the requests, we have done everything to make the document meet the aspirations that citizens have today - to participate in local affairs, " - he said.
It will be possible to change an election address once this procedure comes into force, up to and including the fifth day from the beginning of an election process. According to Article 195 (1) of the Election Code, an election process begins fifty days before the day of regular or early local elections.
"Given the date this Procedure enters into force, as well as the deadline for announcement of the next local elections in 50 days before the election day, any voter who wants to change his/hers election address should plan and be ready to do so during a little more than two months. It will be possible to change the election address from July 1 to September 9 inclusive," - emphasized Olha Kotsiuruba, Legal Adviser at the Civil Network OPORA.
Experts from the HRUPA VPLYVU Civil Holding, the Civil Network OPORA and the ZMINA Human Rights Center also worked together on proposals for the election address change procedure. The Central Election Commission took into account some of these proposals during public online discussions on April 16.
We would like to remind that on December 2, 2019 the CEC adopted the procedure for a temporary change of voting location without changing of an election address. According to the document, it's possible to apply for a change of voting location via electronic form or an authorized person. According to a new version of the document, in addition to registered voters, citizens who do not have a registration address also can temporarily change their place of voting. The place of voting may be changed both for one or two rounds of election simultaneously. A voter may also submit a written application through an authorized person, drawing up a notarized power of attorney. The adopted procedure applies only to presidential and parliamentary elections. Some proposals from the Civil Network OPORA to simplify this procedure for a temporary change of voting location without changing of an election address were also taken into account.