On 4 April 2023, third meeting, focused on voters’ lists, voting rights and voting procedures, took place among representatives of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional and Urban Development and the Central Election Commission of Ukraine with the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina within the framework of the series of peer-to-peer exchanges of Ukrainian authorities with representatives of countries having experience on holding elections in a post-conflict/post-war period*.
Given the significant number of Ukrainians who have left Ukraine seeking shelter from the war, this third meeting targeted the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the most acute and sensitive issues for Ukraine as regards organisation of the first post-war elections –– that are voters’ lists and voter registration, out-of-country voting, active and passive suffrage, including existing back then limitations.
Experience and lessons learnt of Bosnia and Herzegovina as to approaches to forming and updating voters’ lists, voting of internally displaced persons, organisation, peculiarities and scale of out-of-country voting, including voting by post, the role of international organisations as well as the diplomatic and consular institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in ensuring the out-of-country voting during the first post-war elections, are of prime importance and interest for Ukrainian representatives, considering the context of large-scale demographic and migration processes Ukraine is facing.
Discussions touched upon other important public and political issues related to the post-war elections, namely, active and passive suffrage and possible limitations. Participants were interested in the experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina with regard to electoral requirements for voters and candidates, especially those introduced due to the war, and instruments for respective legislative regulation, documents needed to take part in elections and instruments used to confirm a person’s right to vote, limitations to suffrage rights of persons having committed war crimes, as well as other related questions and issues.
*Series of meetings are organized upon the request of Ukrainian partners and as follow-up to the High-level dialogue on “Good democratic governance in Ukraine: achievements, challenges and the way forward in post-war period” held in Strasbourg, France, on 8 – 9 November 2022, within the framework and with the support of the Council of Europe project "Supporting democratic post-war elections in Ukraine", implemented within the framework of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine "Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction" for 2023-2026.
