The Central Election Commission of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Центральна виборча комісія України, romanized: Tsentralna vyborcha komisiia Ukrainy, commonly abbreviated in Ukrainian as Ukrainian: ЦВК, romanized: TsVK ([t͡seʋeˈkɑ]); sometimes referred to as the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine) is a permanent and independent collegiate body of the Ukrainian state that acts on the basis of the Constitution of Ukraine, the laws of Ukraine and is responsible for organizing the arrangements and the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine as well as the local elections at all levels, managing the all-Ukrainian and local referendums according to the procedure and within the legal framework defined by the laws of Ukraine.
Legislative status
The Commission manages the system of election commissions and referendum commissions established to arrange and conduct the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine as well as the all-Ukrainian referendums. The Commission supervises activities and provides the advisory and methodological support to the commissions established to arrange and conduct the local elections at all levels as well as the local referendums.
The Commission discharges its mandate independently, separately from other government authorities, municipalities, officials and public officers.
General Information, Composition and Appointment
In November 1997 a new state institution, the Central Election Commission, was established according to the Constitution requirements. The Law of Ukraine "On the Central Election Commission" stipulates that the Central Election Commission shall be a permanent state body, which, in compliance with the Constitution of Ukraine, ensures the arrangements and the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine as well as the all-Ukrainian referendums.[citation needed]
The Central Election Commission also provides advisory-methodological support of elections and local referendums to local councils, village, town, city mayors. It supervises the system of election commissions established to arrange and conduct the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ukraine as well as the all-Ukrainian referendums , coordinates their activities.[citation needed]
The Central Election Commission is an independent state body. In order to perform its functions the Commission is entitled to enable the involvement of public authorities at all levels into the implementation of this extremely important state activity. The Commission performs its duties on the principles of legality, independence, objectivity, competence, professionalism, collegial decision-making, reliability, openness and transparency.[citation needed]
The activities of the Commission are carried out openly and publicly.[citation needed]
The Commission has its own publication - "The Bulletin of the Central Election Commission".[citation needed]
The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine appoints and terminates the authority of the CEC members upon the proposal of the President of Ukraine. The presidential submission on the CEC members shall take into account the nominee proposals of current parliamentary factions and groups.[citation needed]
Composition
The Commission consists of 17 CEC members (prior to September 2018 15 members).[3] The Commission functions on a regular basis. Member of the Commission is a public officer. Each member is appointed for a 7-year term by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine. A Commission member may be a citizen of Ukraine, who shall not be under twenty five years old on the appointment date, has the right to vote, has been lived in Ukraine for at least the last five years and commands the official language. The Chairperson of the Commission, the Deputy Chair of the Commission, the Secretary of the Commission, as well as at least five other members of the Commission shall have higher education in the field of law.
Secretariat of the Commission
Chairman
Deputy
Operation-Methodical Department
Legal Department
Informational Department
Department of Document Support
Managing and Material-Technical Support Department
Division in relationships with public media
Division of human resources and the state service
Division of planning and financing
Division of control and use of funds
Accounting division
Division of international cooperation
Editorial-publishing division
Supporting service of the Central Election Commission
Appointment
History
The first election commission in Ukraine was created in 1917 as an Electoral Bureau of the General Secretary of Internal Affairs and was headed by Mykhailo Kovenko. It prepared elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly, which were interrupted by the Ukrainian-Soviet War. In 1989 the modern election commission was created under the Cabinet of Ukraine, which in 1997 became an independent body of the Ukrainian government.
Districts
There are different electoral divisions depending on the level of elections. Before the electoral of 1997 and the installation of the Central Election Commission the country consisted of 450 electoral districts (number of parliamentarians in Verkhovna Rada). With the introduction of party voting principle the number of districts changed to 225. Each electoral district includes around 120-180 smaller electoral precincts (dilnytsi).
Beside the national level elections the country conducts local elections as well. Each region (oblast or Autonomous Republic Crimea), district (raion), urban or rural settlement (see Administrative divisions of Ukraine) has its own council (rada) amounting altogether to some 12,088 councils of various size across the nation.[4]
Western Ukraine
Election year
Zakarpattia
Chernivtsi
Ivano-Frankivsk
Lviv
Ternopil
Volyn
Rivne
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
total
change
total
change
total
change
total
change
total
change
total
change
total
change
1990
167-177
11
0
430-437
8
0
196-207
12
0
258-281
24
0
355-364
10
0
40-48
9
0
332-341
10
0
1994
167-176
10
1
431-438
8
0
195-206
12
0
260-282
23
1
356-365
10
0
64-72
9
0
333-342
10
0
1998
70-74
5
5
202-205
4
4
84-89
6
6
115-126
12
11
163-167
5
5
19-23
5
4
152-156
5
5
1999
70-74
5
0
202-205
4
0
84-89
6
0
115-126
12
0
163-167
5
0
19-23
5
0
152-156
5
0
2002
70-75
6
1
202-205
4
0
85-90
6
0
116-127
12
0
164-168
5
0
19-23
5
0
153-157
5
0
2004
70-75
6
0
204-207
4
0
85-90
6
0
117-128
12
0
166-170
5
0
19-23
5
0
155-159
5
0
2006
66-70
5
1
207-210
4
0
79-85
7
1
112-125
14
2
165-172
8
3
20-26
7
2
151-157
7
2
2007
66-70
5
0
207-210
4
0
79-85
7
0
112-125
14
0
165-172
8
0
20-26
5
0
151-157
7
0
2010
69-74
6
1
204-207
4
0
84-90
7
0
117-128
12
2
165-169
5
3
19-23
5
2
154-158
5
2
2012
68-73
5
0
201-204
4
0
83-89
7
0
115-126
12
0
163-167
5
0
19-23
5
0
152-156
5
0
Presidential elections
Northern Ukraine
Election year
Zhytomyr
Kyiv
Kyiv city
Chernihiv
Sumy
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
districts
number
total
change
total
change
total
change
total
change
total
change
1990
153-166
14
0
208-224
17
0
1-22
22
0
438-450
13
0
342-354
13
0
1994
154-166
13
1
207-223
17
0
1-23
23
1
439-450
12
1
343-355
13
0
1998
64-69
6
7
90-97
8
9
212-223
12
11
206-211
6
6
157-162
6
7
1999
64-69
6
0
90-97
8
0
212-223
12
0
206-211
6
0
157-162
6
0
2002
64-69
6
0
91-98
8
0
212-223
12
0
206-211
6
0
158-163
6
0
2004
64-69
6
0
91-99
9
1
214-223
10
2
208-213
6
0
160-165
6
0
2006
56-65
10
4
86-94
9
0
218-224
7
3
211-217
7
1
158-164
7
1
2007
56-65
10
0
86-94
9
0
218-224
7
0
211-217
7
0
158-164
7
0
2010
63-68
6
4
91-99
9
0
214-223
10
3
208-213
6
1
159-164
6
1
2012
62-67
6
0
90-98
9
0
211-223
13
3
205-210
6
0
157-162
6
0
Presidential elections
Members
The current Central Election Commission approved by parliament on 4 October 2019 includes 17 members:[5]
Oleksandr Chupakhin (Чупахін Олександр Михайлович)
Yulia Shvets (Швець Юлія Вікторівна)
Oleksandr Shelestov (Шелестов Олександр Миколайович)
Valeriy Sheludko (Шелудько Валерій Євгенович)
Former members of the Commission were appointed by the parliament on 8 December 2004. This appointment was an integral part of the legislative package to resolve the presidential election crisis in Ukraine. These members supervised the repeat of the second round of the presidential elections on 26 December 2004.
Members of the Commission as of 1 January 2005 were:
Yaroslav Davydovych (Давидович Ярослав Васильович) (chairman)
The Law of Ukraine "On the Central Election Commission", No. 1932-IV (1932-15), dated 30 June 2004, promulgated 9 July 2004 (text in Ukrainian).
The Decree of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On Appointing the Members of the Central Election Commission", No. 2225-IV (2225-15), dated 8 December 2004, promulgated 8 December 2004 (text in Ukrainian)
