Soon Ukrainians will be expected to cast their ballots for local leaders.
The nationwide local elections are set to run on Oct. 25, though experts advise against ignoring the possibility of deferral as coronavirus cases continue to set new records.
With less than a month left until election day, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC) still has not publicly released safety protocols for voting in each adaptive quarantine zone. Except for mandatory masks, sanitizers, and personal pens, not much has been advised, even though Ukraine is currently the fourth country in Europe with the highest increase in daily coronavirus cases.
See also: Why Oct. 25 local elections are important
With over 200,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, adoptive quarantine regulations seem to anger local officials around the country. Trying to save local economies, they simply refuse to enforce strict lockdown measures, while exhausted from quarantine citizens keep being reluctant with masks and social distancing. Just a couple of days ago, Zaporizhia hosted thousands of people for a music festival Khortytsia Freedom, a move that was harshly criticized by Healthcare Minister Maksym Stepanov.
President Volodymyr Zelensky also told journalists in Ternopil that local elections are causing a spike in infections, as local leaders try to win the electorate by loosening the quarantine.
“If the mayor comes out and says ‘I think the government is overstating the severity of the situation,’ people see this and start behaving accordingly,” Zelensky said in September, emphasizing that the responsibility for COVID-19 spikes lies on such leaders.
Election risks
Deputy Minister of Health Viktor Liashko said that elections will not be postponed, even if a particular region is qualified as a “red” quarantine zone and adopts the toughest restrictions. Only if the country enters into a state of emergency, local elections can be postponed, Liashko said.
From a government source who wasn’t authorized to speak to the press, the Kyiv Post learned that the possibility of postponing elections “was never even discussed.”
In a comment to the Kyiv Post, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine backed Liashko’s words, emphasizing that voting is a constitutional right of the citizens that cannot be violated, except in instances of martial law or state of emergency.
The postponement of the election could possibly hurt the results of the ruling party, Zelensky’s Servant of the People, whose ratings have been steadily falling.
“I’d give it a 10-20% chance that elections will be postponed,” political expert Volodymyr Fesenko told the Kyiv Post.
He also emphasized that a pandemic opens an avenue for mass disruption of the work of election commissions through the falsification of health documents of its staff. Although Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers assured that one person infected wouldn’t force the entire commission to close down, Fesenko doubts the validity of such claims.
“In schools, we see that the administrations make their own decisions when someone is sick, regardless of the government’s protocols.”
Global experience
Many countries, including the United Kingdom, Mexico, Spain, Austria, Italy, and Latvia, have all postponed their elections to contain the spread of COVID-19. At the same time, Germany, France, South Korea, Australia, and Poland decided to go through with their elections, adopting guidelines for the electorate, such as requiring voters to wear masks and gloves.
Germany’s second most populated federal state, Bavaria, was also one of the first jurisdictions globally to run their elections entirely by mail. Back in March, it was Germany’s first state to hold its municipal elections, despite the growing concerns over the first wave of COVID-19.
During the first election round, local officials stuck with in-person and postal systems of voting, allowing the voters to choose the best option according to their health conditions. Any citizen could request to vote by mail until right before the voting day, without providing any reason or additional documentation. This ensured that even those who got the virus right before the election would be able to cast their ballots.
During the election’s runoffs, Bavaria saw a steady climb in the coronavirus cases. On election day Bavaria had 12,881 infections, making it the second most affected region in the country.
As a result, local officials decided to vote exclusively via mail. All the necessary documentation was automatically sent to all eligible voters without the need for prior requests. Municipalities also established hotlines and provided contact details, in case voters didn’t receive their ballots or had questions about the voting process. In Munich, individuals who did not receive a ballot could come to a designated location to vote on election day.
Despite the concerns about lower turnout, more Bavarians voted in 2020 than in prior years. The turnout had increased by 4.2% since 2014.
Ukraine’s health measures
The Cabinet of Ministers in Ukraine has approved a set of basic social distancing and sanitizing requirements, many of which have long been familiar to the public.
According to the announcement published on the Cabinet of Ministers’ website, everyone entering the polling space must be checked for body temperature and asked whether they have any symptoms of respiratory diseases. Some of the key recommendations also include the mandatory use of sanitizers and masks by everyone present at the polling station.
At the entrances, there must be sanitizers, as well as designated spots for the collection and disposal of personal protective equipment, such as masks and gloves. Voting spaces are supposed to have markups to help people socially distance and stay one meter apart, while entrances and exits have to be clearly separated to prevent crowding. Moreover, the ministry recommended to only allow three people per table where ballots are handed out.
Is it also recommended that people bring their own pens and avoid bringing children to polling stations.
Individuals who choose to self-isolate or are sick can vote from home. They have to file an application with proof of their medical condition before 8 p.m. on Oct. 23 – the last Friday before the election day.
According to Ukrainian legislation, if a person entering the polling station has a fever over 37.2 degrees Celcius or symptoms of respiratory diseases, they should be directed to a separate voting booth.
Other measures include mandatory and regular sanitization of voting spaces as well as social distancing or physical barriers between the members of electoral commissions.
