67% Ukrainians believe that Ukrainians abroad should be able to vote in elections

A recent poll has suggested that nearly 70% of Ukrainians believe that Ukrainian citizens abroad should be able to take part in elections in Ukraine.

Source: Ukrainska Pravda’s report on whether Ukraine is prepared for online and postal voting

Details: Ukrainska Pravda commissioned a set of questions on remote voting to be included in a December poll by the SOCIS Centre for Social and Market Research.

When asked "Do Ukrainians who have moved abroad have the same right to determine the government in Ukraine as citizens who have stayed in the country?" 67% of respondents answered in the affirmative because those people remain citizens of Ukraine.

Meanwhile, 28.2% said no, because people who have left the country do not have the right to influence the election of the government in Ukraine.

The survey was conducted by telephone on 5–11 December among a representative sample across Ukraine, excluding the Russian-occupied territories. A total of 2,000 respondents were interviewed, with a margin of error of no more than 2.6%.

When it comes to the voting medium, current legislation in Ukraine states that Ukrainian citizens abroad can vote in person on election day at embassies and consulates. However, if the number of voters abroad is too high, diplomatic missions will not be able to accommodate tens of thousands of people.

One solution is to increase the number of polling stations for voting with paper ballots.

Another option that Ukraine could try is advance voting by mail, which has a number of drawbacks and poses some threats.

Another potential option is remote voting on the Internet. This option poses risks related to cybersecurity, lack of legal framework and violation of anonymity.

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