The CEC explains why Ukraine has abandoned electronic and postal voting
3 April 2025 18:35
Ukraine is studying European models of electoral legislation, including electronic voting.
This was reported to journalists by Olena Shulyak, head of the parliamentary committee on the organization of state power , at the end of last year . She did not rule out that such a voting option could be introduced during the presidential and local elections after the war with Russia ends.
Earlier, in 2023, the Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov also stated that in the future, Ukrainians may elect the president online, but certain reforms must take place for this to happen. First, the Ministry of Digital Transformation wants to introduce petitions in Diia: the ability to submit and vote for them.
In fact, specialists and experts have been discussing the issue of
of electronic elections for quite some time. In 2011, the Verkhovna Rada registered draft law No. 8656 “On the Concept of Introducing an Electronic Voting System.” Later, in 2019, the draft law No. 10129 “On Amendments to Certain Laws of Ukraine on Ensuring the Electoral Rights of Ukrainian Citizens by Introducing Postal Voting and Internet Voting in Elections” was introduced. None of the draft laws received adequate support.
At the same time, CEC Chairman Oleh Didenko said in an interview with [Komersant ] that the Central Election Commission had been considering the possibility of electronic voting abroad since 2022.
“Back in April 2022, the first election group was created, which prepared a package of proposals to the Verkhovna Rada. We were hoping for a quick victory and elections as planned… Now we are working deeper and more thoroughly on these issues. One of the topics was voting abroad. Three main options were considered: electronic voting, postal voting and extended voting (creation of additional polling stations outside embassies and consulates). Electronic and postal voting were rejected as too risky for Ukraine at this point,” explained Oleh Didenko.
Instead, the CEC supports the idea of expanding the network of polling stations. This includes the possibility of creating additional polling stations outside embassies and consulates.
Olena Shulyak herself, while supporting the idea of electronic voting, emphasized the need for a technical assessment of other alternative voting options, including IT security.
Electronic voting systems have already been introduced in many countries around the world: The United States, Canada, Brazil, India, Belgium, Australia, Estonia, and South Korea.
Experiments are being conducted in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, and China.
Experience of using electronic voting in some countries:
Estonia
The country demonstrates the most successful experience in introducing e-voting. It is constantly increasing the technological capabilities of the system. For example, it has introduced electronic signatures, digital ID cards – ID cards equipped with a code and a microchip, as well as two digital certificates intended for identity verification.
USA
Many Americans vote by mail or email instead of going to the polls. Under the American Elections Assistance Act (2002), the United States has made significant investments in voting machines, in most cases, those that do not provide a paper trail. In 2020, when the presidential election was held amid the coronavirus pandemic, 65 million Americans voted by mail. State election laws typically provide for a number of checks to protect against fraud and hacking from the outside.
There is currently a lively debate in the US about how to improve the voting process.
India
The pilot project for the introduction of e-voting in this country began in 1982. Since 2002, voting machines have been operating throughout India. The country uses inexpensive equipment and relatively simple technologies. Initially, the Indian system of organizing elections did not provide for a paper trail. However, the controversy over possible problems due to hacker interventions is pushing for reform of the e-voting procedure.
South Korea was the first country in Asia to introduce an electronic voting system in 2005.
The Netherlands
In 2008. E-voting was suspended after 20 years of use. At that time, activists managed to convince the public that the systems used could jeopardize the secrecy of the vote under certain circumstances.
Germany
If a voter is unable to come to a polling station on election day, he or she can apply for a vote by mail (Briefwahl). In this case, the voter receives the election documents by mail, fills out the ballot in advance at home and mails it back or brings it in person to the community.
On the back of the Wahlbenachrichtigung (election notice) there is a form and often an email address, website or QR code. Using this information, you can apply to vote by mail.
Voters can also vote by mail directly on the spot. To do this, you need to get the election documents in advance from the relevant community authority and cast your vote right there.
UnitedKingdom
Postal voting in the UK is quite popular: approximately 20% of voters prefer this method to the traditional trip to the polling station. The British people mostly believe that voting on paper is more trustworthy. In the upcoming general parliamentary elections in 2024, many voters voted by mail from abroad and complained about delays in receiving ballots. Brexit was cited as one of the reasons for the slow performance of the post office: after Britain left the EU, letters that used to arrive in a matter of days actually began to be delayed for a week or more. But this does not explain why problems arose even within the country: delays were reported in Scotland and England.
Bahrain
In 2006, just a few weeks before the first e-voting was to begin, the government decided to revert to paper voting due to pressure from the opposition, which suspected that the results were being falsified.
