Local Elections, 25 October 2020

Ukraine 2020 local elections: ODIHR press conference

Following an invitation to observe the local elections in Ukraine scheduled for 25 October 2020, and in accordance with its mandate, ODIHR has deployed a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM) for these elections. 

Long-term observation

The mission is led by Ingibjörg Sólrún Gisladóttir (Iceland) and consists of a core team of 16 experts based in Kyiv. In addition, 66 long-term observers will be deployed throughout the country from 29 September.

The mission will assess whether the elections are held in line with OSCE commitments and other international obligations and standards for democratic elections, as well as with national legislation.

Observers will closely follow fundamental components of the elections such as:

• voter registration
• candidate registration
• campaign activities and financing
• media coverage of the campaign
• the work of the election administration and relevant government bodies
• election-related legislation and its implementation
• the resolution of election-related disputes

The ODIHR LEOM will also conduct qualitative and quantitative monitoring of media coverage of the election campaign.

Election day

While ODIHR originally requested 600 short-term observers to be deployed prior to the 25 October elections, the secondment and deployment of the requested number of short-term observers was not feasible due to the extraordinary circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel restrictions across the OSCE region. Therefore, ODIHR took the decision to change the format of the observation activity from an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to a Limited Election Observation Mission (LEOM).

While the mission will visit a limited number of polling stations on election day, systematic observation of voting, counting or tabulation of results on election day is not envisaged.

The day after the elections, ODIHR will issue a statement of preliminary findings and conclusions at a press conference. A final report on the observation including potential recommendations will be published approximately two months after the end of the election process.

Previous elections

ODIHR has previously deployed 13 observation activities in Ukraine since 1998, most recently to the 2019 presidential and early parliamentary elections.