The Council of Europe and the Ukrainian Central Election Commission (CEC) have signed a memorandum on cooperation to step up the CEC’s capabilities to organize and hold elections under European standards.
CEC Chairwoman Tetiana Slypachuk leading the Ukrainian delegation has visited the head office of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, at the Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Democracy’s invitation, the press service of Ukraine’s CEC said on December 11.
“One of the most important results of this visit was the conclusion of the CEC’s first-ever memorandum on cooperation between the Central Election Commission and the Council of Europe. This document is aimed at the plans of its signatories to cooperate in efforts to foster the CEC’s capacity to organize and hold the electoral process in compliance with European electoral standards and appropriate practices, and in efforts to reinforce the Commission’s capabilities to train various participants of the electoral process, including voters,” the statement says.
Meanwhile, the memorandum envisages the assistance to setting up and launching regional branches of the commission and elaborating the regulatory base of their operations. It also implies the use of new technology in the electoral process and further improvement of the quality of the lists of voters and the registration of voters.
“In the course of the visit, the interlocutors had a substantial and fruitful discussion on pressing issues of the CEC’s activity. They, in particular, discussed the arrangements to upcoming Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections, which are scheduled for 2019, and the issues involving holding of local elections in 2020,” it said.
