The Central Election Commission granted OPORA a permission to deploy official observers in by-election of MPs in single-member districts # 23, 27, 85, 114, 151, 183, and 206, scheduled for 17 July 2016.

The CEC took this decision on its regular meeting today on 24 May, in accordance with the Article 78 of the Law of Ukraine on Elections of People's Deputies of Ukraine. Besides OPORA, 5 other non-governmental organizations received such permission: Leading Legal Initiatives, All-Ukrainian Department for Detection and Combating Corruption in State Authorities and Local Self-Government Bodies, TRIUMVIRATE International Organization, ELECTION OVERSIGHT NGO (KONTROL ZA VYBORAMY), and Chernihiv Citizen Human Rights Committee (only in election district #206 in Chernihiv).

The next stage is registration of official observers by district election commissions.

We would like to emphasize that civic observation is an inherent part of democratic and transparent election, and cannot be realized by unauthorized stakeholders. That's why it's important that an observer is an electoral subject.

Civil Network OPORA is aimed not only to provide an unbiased assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, but also to prevent violations of electoral legislation. A status of an official observer is quite helpful in this regard. In particular: a right to attend meetings of election commissions and other public events related to the election process; a right to sign tabulation protocols and receive their copies, what strengthens oversight of data authenticity; and a right to appeal against violations of electoral legislation to the corresponding election commissions or a court, what contributes to prevention of violations and helps bring violators to responsibility.

Teams of long-term observers and information centers will work in all districts during the election campaign. You may find the latest news about electoral process on OPORA's website https://www.oporaua.org/. The number of observers deployed to each district on the election day will depend on the number of conflicts appearing in the election campaign.

(#вибори2015; #elect_ua; #opora; #опора)
 
Reference:
Civil Network OPORA conducts citizen observation of 2016 by-election to the Parliament, scheduled for 17 July 2016. Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing electoral violations through comprehensive civic action.