The first post-war elections in Ukraine: the advantages of self-service machines

The article is devoted to the problem of ensuring the electoral rights of Ukrainian refugees in European countries in the first national post-war elections. The urgency of the problem is emphasized by the fact that the state body for administering elections in Ukraine, the Central Election Commission, has created a special working group to solve this problem. The state system of guaranteeing the electoral rights of Ukrainian citizens was challenged by emigration as a result of this war. The existing network of polling stations abroad does not correspond to the current settlement of the Ukrainian people; in particular, in the countries of the European Union. The issue of introducing new voting procedures to guarantee the electoral rights of Ukrainians abroad is timely. Among the most discussed in Ukraine: postal voting, voting via the Internet, voting at additional polling stations. The subject of the study is voting at additional polling stations, or the so-called “extended personal voting”. It was determined that this is a method of issuing ballots on voting day at an election station of a foreign electoral district, when the voter receives a ballot outside the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. It was proven that in order for a voter to receive a ballot at additional polling stations, prior registration through the State Register of Voters is not required. It was substantiated that additional polling stations will most likely be located in the premises of the Ministry of National Unity of Ukraine. It has been found that any possible number of additional polling stations in the countries with the largest number of Ukrainian refugees: Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic - will still be significantly less than the required norm. Additional polling stations are necessary, but insufficient to guarantee the voting rights of Ukrainian citizens abroad. The option of machine-based ballot issuance for the arrangement of voter self-service zones at additional polling stations was proposed for discussion. The main advantage of using self-service machines over manual labor by election commissions was noted - the above-normal speed of serving voters and processing ballots. The introduction of machine-based self-service zones at additional polling stations is sufficient to guarantee the voting rights of Ukrainians abroad in the first post-war elections.