On October 1, Oleg Didenko, Chairman of the Central Election Commission, met with representatives of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA). The event was attended by UWC Chief Observer in Ukraine Natalia Nemylivska, Director of the UWC Office in Ukraine Sergiy Kasyanchuk, UCCA Chief Observer in Ukraine Reno Dominiko, Director of the UCCA Kyiv Office Victoria Gubska, CEC Deputy Chairman Vitaliy Plukar and Commission Member Oksana Boyarchuk. In addition, UWC Executive Director Maria Kupriyanova, UWC Head of international election observation Mission Borys Wrzesniewski, and UCCA President Andriy Futei joined the online meeting.
Representatives of international organizations thanked the CEC for accrediting official observers from the UWC and UCCA in the local elections on October 25, 2020. They also informed about the composition of observation missions from these organizations and the approximate plan of their work in Ukraine.
Rino Dominico, in particular, stressed that the Ukrainian World Congress has been organizing observation missions for all types of elections in Ukraine for over twenty years. As a result, detailed reports were published with appropriate analysis and recommendations for improving the legislative and procedural components of the organization of elections. The same period covers the active participation in the observation of the election process in our country by representatives of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America.
During further communication, the Chairman of the Commission focused on the main features of the preparation and conduct of the current local elections. First of all, it was a question of the new election legislation, change of electoral system. This, in turn, necessitated the regulation of numerous procedural issues, including through the adoption by the Commission of various clarifications.
In this context, Oleg Didenko also reminded of the reform of the administrative-territorial system, which almost coincided in time with the electoral reform. Therefore, in preparation for the local elections, these processes required appropriate coordination, primarily taking into consideration the impact of administrative reform on electoral procedures.
The parties also discussed the issue of holding elections in quarantine. First of all, the focus was on measures to be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during polling station voting.
Concluding the meeting, the CEC Chairman thanked the Ukrainian World Congress and the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America for many years of attention to the elections in our country, as well as for the opportunity to send official observers to Ukraine in the current difficult situation related to the coronavirus pandemic. "We are glad to note that our elections are not left out, in particular, by such respected international organizations. In turn, we are always open to cooperation and ready to provide any support and assistance to the observation missions," Oleg Didenko said.
For reference. As of October 1, 2020, the Central Election Commission has accredited 11 official observers from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America and 2 from the Ukrainian World Congress on October 25, 2020 local elections. A total of 127 official observers from 3 foreign countries and 5 international organizations were accredited.
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