Elections in Ukraine will take place after war is over - MP

Yevheniia Kravchuk, deputy head of the Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

She said that the issue of elections had been discussed at a meeting of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction in the context of the impossibility of holding them during martial law.

"An offline meeting of the faction took place in January, where David Arakhamia [the head of the Servant of the People parliamentary faction] very clearly explained why it is impossible to hold elections during martial law. He also explained what challenges we have to overcome to hold the first post-war elections," Kravchuk said.

She clarified that there are at least two key challenges. First, many Ukrainians have left abroad. After the war ends, they will not return home for several days. According to her, it is difficult to create polling stations abroad, because there are millions of Ukrainians there - this is a "huge" burden on consulates. Secondly, in Ukraine, many infrastructure facilities where elections are usually held (educational institutions, sports halls, cultural centers) have been destroyed. Accordingly, it is necessary to create new precincts in other places.

At the same time, Kravchuk added: "One of the hypothetical options for those abroad is online voting, but this issue is very 'raw,' nothing can be said. In Vancouver, our delegation had a meeting with the head of an election observation mission of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. They said that they are ready to provide Ukraine with expertise on the pros and cons of online elections. They also noted that the process of organizing such elections should be gradual. It is not possible to introduce this system to the entire country at once. We must listen to all the expertise."

At the same time, Kravchuk said that now online elections are only an option, because their results must be trusted by the public, and Ukrainians "so far are mostly distrustful of such drastic changes."

According to the Constitution, the next regular parliamentary elections should be held in October 2023, and presidential elections in the spring of 2024. However, martial law being in place in Ukraine prevents elections from being held.

Verkhovna Rada Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk earlier said that elections in Ukraine should be held after the war ends.