OSCE-supported voter awareness campaign starts ahead of parliamentary elections in Ukraine

KYIV, 20 September, 2012 - Raising the awareness of voters in Ukraine about their legal rights, electoral procedures and the importance of elections is focus of a nation-wide awareness campaign that started today with the support from the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU) and the country’s Central Election Commission.

“Informing voters about their rights and the election process in a timely manner is an important precondition for holding democratic elections,” said Ambassador Madina Jarbussynova, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.  “We support the Central Election Commission’s initiative to run a campaign covering election procedures issues including novelties introduced by the newly adopted election legislation in Ukraine,” she added.

The awareness campaign targeting Ukrainian voters will address voting procedure, home voting, verification of voter lists, protection of the secrecy of vote and prevention of voter harassment and vote buying.

“Awareness of the electoral procedures covered by the campaign is key for the implementation by voters of their rights and obligations,” said Oleksandr Chupakhin, a member of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine.

“This campaign will help Ukrainian people receive comprehensive answers to important election-related questions in a timely and understandable manner, which in turn will help voters shape their own opinion and thus have a positive impact on the preparation and the conduct of elections.”

During the campaign, publications aimed to raise voters’ awareness will be produced and distributed, audio and video public service announcements broadcast, and a dedicated website developed.

The campaign is implemented within a project run by the PCU aimed at assisting the Central Election Commission of Ukraine in enhancing voters’ awareness ahead of elections and developing election training capacity. This project is supported by the Canadian International Development Agency and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry.

The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the election observation mission in Ukraine of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights operate separately under their specific mandates.