Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated that his nation might hold elections during wartime provided that partners in the US and Europe offer financial assistance, legislators give approval, and everyone can get to the polls.
Elections currently cannot take place in Ukraine due to martial law, which must be renewed every 90 days, and is set to expire on 15 November, after the normal date in October for parliamentary elections but before presidential elections in March 2024.
Zelensky Plans for Elections
Top US lawmakers visited Kyiv in August, including Senator Lindsey Graham, who praised Ukraine’s battle against Russian President Vladimir Putin, but said the nation needed to prove it was different by conducting elections during the war.
In a televised interview, Zelensky stated that he discussed the subject with Graham, including finances and the need for amending the law.
According to Zelensky, elections in Ukraine under martial law are only possible if all people, including military personnel and forced migrants from other countries, have the right to vote; financing and the presence of international monitors at polling stations on the frontlines must also be assured.
Zelensky asserted,
“We need every vote. We won’t be able to say for ourselves that this was a very democratic election. We need a legitimate choice. We need this choice to be made by society. So that it does not divide our people. We need the military to be able to vote. They are defending this democracy today, and not giving them this opportunity because of the war is unfair.”
⚡🇺🇦 Volodymyr #Zelensky: “We are ready to fight for a long time”.
— X News Monitor (@xNewsMonitor) August 27, 2023
The president of #Ukraine stated that organizing elections is possible "if the United States and the EU are ready to give us 5 billion euros".
"I will not run elections on credit," he added.… pic.twitter.com/4aFXukAQRj
Ukraine Needs Financial Assistance
President Zelensky added that another challenge associated with having elections during the war is a lack of funds. He stated that holding elections in peacetime costs 5 billion hryvnia ($135 million), adding that he does not know how much is needed for the same during war time.
Zelensky stressed that he will “not take money from weapons and give it to elections. And this is stipulated by the law.” However, he asked for assistance from the West, saying, “If you give me this financial support, if the parliamentarians realise that we need to do this, then let’s quickly change the legislation and, most importantly, let’s take risks together.”
The Ukrainian president also considered that for the organising polling stations, there should be the presence of observers, including international observers. “Observers should be in the trenches. I told him [Graham]: Observers must be sent to the frontlines so that the elections are legitimate for us and for the whole world. And this is absolutely fair.”
Zelensky emphasised that a large number of Ukrainians are now living abroad, notably in the EU, and that safeguarding their expression of will also needs major resources and voting locations, both of which Ukraine lacks in large numbers.
“7 million people have to vote. We do not have such infrastructural capacities - we need to provide appropriate opportunities there,” he remarked.