Today, a meeting, focusing on E-day, complaints and appeals, as well as election observation, concluded a series of meetings* among representatives of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional and Urban Development, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine and the Central Election Commission of Bosnia and Herzegovina, allowing more than 60 participants of these institutions to exchange on organisation and conduct of post-war elections.
The series of these peer-to-peer exchanges was launched on 8 February 2023, with general discussion of the challenges faced by Bosnia and Herzegovina in organizing the first post-war elections, and lessons learnt that could be useful for Ukraine. The Ukrainian representatives, including Oleksandr Korniyenko, First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Ukraine, Olena Shuliak, Chairperson of the Ukrainian Parliamentary Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development, and Oleg Didenko, Chairperson of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine, expressed their gratitude to the Council of Europe for organising such exchanges andhighly emphasized their importance and need, in view of the most difficult elections in the Ukrainian history, and reaffirmed that holding post-war democratic fair elections is crucial issue for the whole Ukrainian society.
The second meeting focused on key security factors and criteria to be considered before and during the conduct of first post-war elections, measures taken to ensure safety for all participants of electoral process, as well as role, appointment and functioning of election administration during the first post-war electoral process. The representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina shared their experience as to election management system applied during the organisation and conduct of the first post-war elections and its further evolution. This included the role of international organisations in the process of election management, principles for establishing and work of election management bodies, as well as respective challenges and problems encountered.
Given the significant number of Ukrainians who have left Ukraine seeking shelter from the war, the 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. 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.
Upon the results of four online meetings held, an analytical overview “Organisation and conduct of first post-war elections. Experience of Bosnia and Herzegovina and lessons learned for Ukraine” will be produced, presented to, and shared with, other national stakeholders concerned and broader public for further thematic discussions and consultations.
*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.
