Raising awareness ahead of local elections in Ukraine

On 25 October 2015 voters in Ukraine will go to polling stations to elect their local authorities – mayors and heads of villages, and members of regional (oblast), city, district (rayon) and village councils. With the decentralization reforms high on the country’s agenda, the local elections are gaining importance, as changes in budget expenditures are to provide more opportunities and significance at the regional government level.

As the elections are to take place in line with new legislation, comprehensive efforts are needed to explain the new processes to voters. The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, in co-operation with the country’s Central Election Commission, is running a multi-component voter-awareness campaign.

Special focus is on journalists of regional mass media who are able to help voters understand the complexities of electoral system. From 28 September to 8 October the OSCE Project Co-ordinator delivered five two-day training courses for media professionals on the electoral system, legislation, media ethics, access to information as well as the rights and obligations of journalists. Some 104 journalists were trained were trained in the courses at Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk.

Public trust in elections as an effective tool of influencing the government is key to the stability of the country. That is why the role of responsible journalism is especially important for the elections period, as mass media are in a position to explain the specifics of electoral processes, as well as to support the people in making an informed choice.

Ambassador Vaidotas Verba OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine

Four public service announcements (PSAs) in the form of videos have been produced by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator and the Central Election Commission to help voters understand the election process. These are available to broadcasters and online media free-of-charge.

The first video explains the voting procedure and informs viewers that depending on the type of settlement of where they are registered, they will have to cast from between 2 to 6 different ballots.

Broadcast quality video can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1LcbEPA

The second PSA explains the election of city heads (mayors) in line with the new legislation.

Broadcast quality video can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1NJvNjM

This PSA urges voters to consider the impact of political corruption and vote-buying on the well-being of the community.

Broadcast quality video can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1LPb9YX

To ensure voters are able to exercise their rights, the fourth video informs viewers how they can check their names in the voter lists.

Broadcast quality video can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/1ZFXTQT

These activities are taking place within a project implemented by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine at the request of the Central Election Commission. The project is financially supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in Canada, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Norway and the Government of Denmark.