Ukraine will on Oct. 25 conduct the most procedurally complicated local elections it has ever seen. Voters can only hope the polls are not also the most chaotic and corrupt ever seen. The complex, multi-system voting procedure will inevitably cause problems with vote counts and distribution of seats, and will likely further reduce the trust of voters in election results, experts have told the Kyiv Post. “Even we don’t totally understand the logic of this law,” said Andriy Mahera, deputy head of Central Election Commission, adding the new election system is already causing some head scratching.
Under the new system, local deputies in villages and small towns can be nominated either by parties or nominate themselves. They will be elected by majority voting in a constituency system, with one deputy elected from each voting constituency.
In contrast, candidates for the regional councils (oblast councils), city councils, town councils and also for councils in city districts and regional districts can participate in the elections only by gaining places on party lists. Via the “proportional with preferential voting” system in each constituency, candidates will have to compete both with nominees of other parties and also with other nominees from their own party.
Full Article: Ukrainian voters face complicated and confusing ballots — again.