Zelensky supports online voting in future presidential election
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Dec. 18 that he supports online voting for Ukrainians living abroad in a future presidential election.
Zelensky was commenting on a potential 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.
“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.”
Supporters of holding an election in wartime have proposed electronic voting to ensure safe elections. Since millions of Ukrainians have left the country since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, online voting could also be an easy way for them to vote.
However, some experts have criticized online voting because it could be used to rig elections and because the transparency and fairness of voting could be questioned as a result.
Asked by journalists whether progress has been made on a law on future elections, Zelensky said that "there is none but I have sent all the signals (on the law to the lawmakers)."
He said that the U.S. had called for holding a presidential election, and he told President Donald Trump's administration that he was ready to hold one.
Zelensky also said that they had not considered holding parliamentary or local elections.
Ukraine introduced martial law after Russia launched its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. The Martial Law Act explicitly bans presidential, parliamentary, and local elections.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian constitution stipulates that the authority of the country's parliament must be extended until the expiry of martial law. However, the constitution does not contain similar provisions on presidential or local elections.
If martial law had not been imposed, a presidential election would have been held in 2024.
