Oleg Didenko, Chairman of the Election Commission of Ukraine: ‘We have real and legal reasons why we cannot hold elections’

Oleg Didenko, a native of Sniatyn, in the Ukrainian province of Ivano-Frankivsk, will turn 45 on May 8, the day before the current period of martial law expires, a date marked in red in the terrible chronology ravaging his country. Didenko is the chairman of Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC). When the calendar turns, martial law, in place since the start of the major Russian offensive and renewed Wednesday by parliament, will remain in place, and the organization of elections, prohibited by this law, will be further removed. The legislature has already approved 14 extensions since February 2022, but this one is different. It is the first time that deputies have held a debate since the start of negotiations for a peace process mediated by the United States.

Didenko’s message is clear; he insists: when the war allows, the more time they have to organize the elections, the better, but without excesses. “We should prepare as best we can for the post-war elections and confirm our democratic direction,” he says from the CEC headquarters in Kyiv, “but this period should not be excessively prolonged so as not to appear as an attempt to hold on to power without sufficient grounds.”

The CEC chairman acknowledges the complications: “Currently, we have real reasons why we can’t hold them. Because there’s a full-scale war going on, we can’t guarantee either the safety of voters or an electoral process that meets democratic standards; but we also have legal reasons; martial law prohibits it.”

Didenko, a jurist by training, tall and with a serious demeanor, speaks in a very low tone about highly technical aspects that will shape Ukraine’s democratic future. He reiterates the word “balance,” referring to achieving the right distinction between preparing the electoral process as best as possible without losing “legitimacy” abroad by taking too long. “Aid from our international partners depends on the level of democracy in Ukraine,” he states. But he clarifies that he cannot specify how long they will need to hold elections once martial law is lifted. “We don’t know what specific conditions the country will be in.”

He does, however, offer a clue: the period required to open polling stations after a president’s term ends — Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s did so in May of last year — is 90 days. The head of the CEC, who has been in office for five years, maintains that Ukraine will need more than three months to organize presidential elections once hostilities cease.

The dialogue initiated two months ago by U.S. President Donald Trump with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and Zelenskiy put elections back on the table, albeit more in the political sphere than on the streets. But Trump’s insults toward Zelenskiy, whom he once described as a “dictator” for failing to organize elections, added fuel to the democratic debate. On March 30, The Economist suggested that the presidential cabinet could be working to call elections in July, a report dismissed by the leader of the president’s party in parliament, Davyd Arakhamia.

Ukrainian martial law stipulates that elections cannot be held in times of war. Furthermore, during this period, the top officials in the government administration, primarily the president, will retain their responsibilities and functions until the end of the emergency period and until new elections are held. This appointment does not appear to be imminent given the lack of progress in the peace talks. On Tuesday, Zelenskiy submitted his legislative proposal to parliament for the extension of martial law for another 90 days. A day later, the Chamber, in which the president’s Servant of the People party holds a large majority, voted in favor (357 yes votes to just one no).

Didenko explains that once the circumstances are right — a ceasefire and the lifting of martial law — it is up to parliament to legislate and approve new regulations for the organization and holding of elections, because the current one is unsuitable for the post-war period. Last Friday, in an interview with Ukrinform, parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk stated that political groups have already begun preliminary work on drafting this new regulation. “One of the biggest problems,” Didenko continues, “is that there are millions of displaced people.” According to UN figures, more than 10 million Ukrainians have left their homes, over six million of them to cross the border into other countries.

And even though the CEC has updated the electoral register, it’s of little use if potential voters haven’t changed their residency information. Didenko provides an example: “Before the war, we had 50,000 registered voters in Bakhmut [a city in eastern Ukraine razed and occupied by Russian troops], but now we’re sure there are zero. The problem is that people haven’t registered anywhere else.”

Following the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, the CEC began working on a report with recommendations for future elections. It was presented in September of that year. “We believed the war would be short-lived,” Didenko notes. The electoral body is currently working on a second report, which will be ready in a couple of months and submitted to the deputies. The challenges are enormous: how soldiers will vote, how displaced persons will vote, what systems refugees in other countries will use, what state the polling stations will be in, what will happen to the occupied regions... On this last issue, there is a clear principle. “The Ukrainian state,” the head of the CEC notes, “cannot hold elections in territories where it has no authority.”

To ensure voting from abroad, Didenko explains, the commission has worked in two directions: first, it has gathered experience in countries with large diasporas, such as Romania and Moldova; second, it has learned from the experience of those with large displaced Ukrainian populations, such as Germany, Poland, and Spain. “There are three options for this,” he explains. “Voting online, by traditional mail, or at additional polling stations beyond consulates and embassies.” According to the document the CEC is preparing to send to parliament, this third option would be recommended. That is, amending the law, which currently only allows voting abroad through diplomatic missions, to incorporate other centers to serve as polling stations to accommodate the large number of voters abroad.

There has been speculation that electronic means such as the Diia app, where Ukrainian citizens store their official documents, could be used. But both Didenko and his team see this method, as well as postal mail, as vulnerable to potential attacks from the Russian side. “The enemy could jeopardize the legitimacy of the elections,” the CEC head asserts. “It’s not a question of technology, but of trust.”

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