You're reading: Rada passes law to equip polling stations with CCTV cameras at parliamentary elections

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted the law to allocate Hr 993.6 million from the state budget to set up Web cameras at all polling stations of Ukraine during the parliamentary elections this fall.

A total of 259 lawmakers supported on July 5 the law on ensuring
the openness, transparency and democracy of the parliamentary elections
on October 28 2012.

According to the law, the voting process will be broadcast via the
Web cameras online at the corresponding Web site. During the period
after the finishing of voting and until the signing of the protocol by
the election committee, the video surveillance system will function in
the regime of video recording.

The video surveillance materials will be saved for the next year and
could be obtained at the request of the Central Election Commission.
When the elections finish and the results are announced, video
surveillance systems will be transferred to local government agencies,
the document reads.

As reported, the law was drawn up by MP Vladyslav Zabarsky (Regions Party faction).

Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Internet Association Tetiana Popova told
Interfax-Ukraine that with the necessary financing, the installation of
such video surveillance systems was not a problem in practical terms,
but that it was unlikely to be effective. “I don’t believe that Web
cameras could really prevent falsification. The lobbying of the interest
of a particular producer company is behind any such project,” the
expert said.

Popova also added that while setting up Web cameras the issue of the maintenance of voting secrecy could arise.

Other representatives of the branch polled by the agency noted that
at least four months are left to the elections, and only a skillful
integrator could create such a system in such a short term – one that
has already worked in this sphere and probably held corresponding
consultations with those who decided to conduct video surveillance of
the elections.