Ukraine working on mechanism for overseas voting for citizens living abroad, Zelensky says
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry is working on establishing a mechanism for providing Ukrainian citizen living abroad the ability to vote in the country's next election, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 20.
Zelensky was commenting on a hypothetical future election as part of a peace or ceasefire deal that Ukraine has been discussing with the U.S. Ukrainian law bans elections during wartime but they could be held if martial law is lifted or the legislation is amended.
"In today’s situation, the process will be complicated due to the number of Ukrainians (living abroad), but this is precisely the task of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they have already begun working on it," Zelensky told reporters.
"They have contacts with our partners abroad, and for this it is necessary to coordinate the possible infrastructure overseas so that voting is comfortable," the president added.
Zelensky's statement follows U.S. President Donald Trump's recent remarks about elections in Ukraine. When asked, Trump said in an interview with Politico, aired on Dec. 9, that "it's time" for Ukraine to hold an election.
In response to Trump's comments, Zelensky said on Dec. 9 that holding elections depends on the security of the vote as ensured by Western allies. Calls for elections come as Russia continues to regularly attack the country, and would also depend on the ability of Ukrainian soldiers to vote.
Estimates produced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) indicate that more than 5.8 million Ukrainian refugees fled the country following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The total do not include Ukrainian citizens living abroad ahead of start of the invasion in February 2022.
The Ukrainian president said on Dec. 18 that he supports the idea of online voting for Ukrainians living abroad.
“Since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, I have always supported and raised the issue of legislative changes to allow people to vote online," he said. "So far, we haven’t reached a consensus with members of parliament.”
Zelensky, who has held the office since May 2019, said this September that he is open to not seek re-election after the war is over.
"It is not for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to decide when and in what format elections will take place in Ukraine. He is certainly not a citizen of Ukraine, and he certainly will not influence the outcome or anything else," Zelensky concluded.
