Article 1. Main Principles of the Elections
of the President of Ukraine
1. The President of Ukraine shall be elected
by the citizens of Ukraine on the basis of
universal, equal and direct suffrage , by
means of a secret ballot.
2. The term of office of the President of
Ukraine shall be determined by the Constitution
of Ukraine.
Article 2. General Suffrage
1. The elections of the President of Ukraine
are general. Citizens of Ukraine, who have
reached 18 years of age on the day of elections,
shall have the right to vote.
2. The document confirming Ukrainian citizenship
is:
1) a passport of a citizen of Ukraine;
2) a passport of a citizen of Ukraine for
traveling abroad;
3) a diplomatic passport;
4) a service passport;
5) a seaman's identity card;
6) a crew member's identity card;
7) a military ticket for fixed-term military
servicemen;
8) a temporary identity card of a citizen
of Ukraine;
9) a card (certificate) issued by an institution
under the penitentiary system, which must
contain the surname, name and patronymic date,
month and year of birth, citizenship, a photo
of the person, the signature of the head and
seal of the institution - for persons held
in penitentiary institutions.
3. Citizens of Ukraine who have the right
to vote may participate in the work of election
commissions as their members, as well as in
the conduct of the pre-election campaign,
in the observation of the elections of the
President of Ukraine and in other events in
accordance to the procedure specified in this
and other laws of Ukraine.
4. Any direct or indirect privileges or restrictions
of the voting rights of the citizens of Ukraine
based on race, skin color, political, religious
and other convictions, gender, ethnic and
social origin, property status, place of residence,
or based on language or other criteria, besides
those envisaged by the Constitution of Ukraine
and this Law, shall be prohibited.
5. Citizens found incapable by a court shall
not have the right to vote.
6. A citizen of Ukraine, who, at the time
of preparation and conduct of the elections,
resides or is staying outside the boundaries
of Ukraine, and who on legal grounds crossed
the State boundary of Ukraine, shall exercise
s his/her right to vote for the elections
of the President of Ukraine on a general basis.
7. Citizens of Ukraine who have the right
to vote are voters.
Article 3. Equal Suffrage
1. The elections of the President of Ukraine
shall be equal: citizens of Ukraine shall
take part in them on an equal basis.
2. Each voter has one vote in the elections
of the President of Ukraine. The voter may
only cast his/her vote at one election precinct
on the day of elections.
3. All candidates nominated for the post of
the President of Ukraine shall enjoy equal
rights and opportunities to take part in the
election process.
4. The equality of rights and opportunities
to take part in the election process is guaranteed
by:
1) a prohibition of all privileges and restrictions
on the candidates for the post of President
of Ukraine based on race, skin color, political,
religious and other convictions, gender, ethnic
and social origin, property status, place
of residence, or based on language or other
criteria;
2) a prohibition on interference from the
side of State executive bodies and bodies
local self-government in the election process,
except in cases envisaged by this Law;
3) a prohibition on using other funds than
funds from the State Budget of Ukraine and
the election funds of the candidates to the
post of President of Ukraine for the purposes
of financing the pre-election campaign.
Article 4. Direct Suffrage
Elections of the President of Ukraine are
direct. Citizens of Ukraine shall directly
elect the President of Ukraine.
Article 5. Voluntary Participation in Elections
Citizens of Ukraine participate in the elections
of the President of Ukraine on a voluntary
basis. No one may be forced to take part or
not take part in the elections.
Article 6. Free Elections
1. The elections of the President of Ukraine
are free. The voters are guaranteed conditions
to form and express their will freely during
voting.
2. The use of violence, threats, fraud, bribery
or any other actions impeding the free formation
and free expression of the will of the voters
is prohibited.
3. Military servicemen shall vote at ordinary
election precinct located outside the boundaries
of dislocations of military units, except
in cases envisaged by this Law. Fixed-term
military service¬men shall be provided with
at least a four hour leave on the day of elections
in order to ensure the free expression of
their will.
Article 7. Secret Ballot
The ballot for the elections for the President
of Ukraine is secret: control over the expression
of the will of voters is prohibited.
Article 8. Personal Voting
Each voter shall cast s his/her vote at the
elections of the President of Ukraine in person.
Voting on behalf of other persons, as well
as delegating one's right to vote to any other
person, is prohibited.
Article 9. Eligibility
1. A citizen of Ukraine, who is thirty-five
years of age on the day of elections, eligible
to vote, has a commands of the state language
and has resided in Ukraine for the last ten
years prior to the day of elections, can be
elected the President of Ukraine.
2. According to this Law, residence in Ukraine
means:
1) residence on the territory within the State
boundary of Ukraine;
2) stay on a vessel at sea under the State
Flag of Ukraine;
3) stay , in accordance with the procedure
established by legislation, of citizens of
Ukraine outside the boundaries of Ukraine
on official travel, service in diplomatic
and other official representations and consular
offices of Ukraine, international organizations
and their agencies;
4) stay at polar stations of Ukraine;
5) service in a military unit of the Armed
Forces of Ukraine dislocated outside the boundaries
of Ukraine;
6) stay of the citizens of Ukraine outside
its boundaries according to applicable international
agreements of Ukraine.
3. According to this Law, residence in Ukraine
shall also include residence together with
the persons, specified in clause three of
part two of this article, of members of their
family.
4. A citizen, who has been convicted of a
premeditated crime and such conviction has
not been cancelled or removed according to
the procedure established by law, cannot be
nominated as a candidate to the post of the
President of Ukraine.
5. One and the same individual cannot be the
President of Ukraine for more than two consecutive
terms. An individual who has been elected
the President of Ukraine for two consecutive
terms cannot be nominated as a candidate for
this post.
6. A person, whose powers at the post of President
of Ukraine have been terminated before the
term according to the Constitution of Ukraine,
cannot be nominated candidate to the post
of the President of Ukraine in extraordinary
elections called in connection with the aforementionedtermination
of powers.
Article 10. Right to Nominate Candidates
for the Post of the President of Ukraine
1. The right to nominate candidates to the
post of the President of Ukraine shall belong
to Ukrainian citizens who are eligible to
vote. They shall exercise this right through
political parties or their election blocs
(hereinafter parties (blocs)), as well as
by self-nomination, according to the procedure
established by this Law.
2. A party (bloc) may only nominate one candidate
to the post of the President of Ukraine.
Article 11. The Election Process
1. The election process is the realization
of the election procedures envisaged by this
law by the subjects specified in ar article
12 of this Law.
2. The election process shall be realized
on the principles of:
1) lawfulness and a prohibition of illegal
interference of any person with this process;
2) political pluralism and a multi-party system;
3) publicity and openness of the election
process;
4) equality of all candidates for the post
of President of Ukraine;
5) equality of rights of the parties (blocs)
- subjects of election process;
6) freedom of campaign, equal opportunities
for candidates to the post of President of
Ukraine to access mass media;
7) impartiality from the side of the State
executive bodies, bodies of local self-government,
enterprises, institutions and organizations,
their directors and other officials and officers
towards candidates to the post of the President
of Ukraine and, parties (blocs).
3. The beginning of the election process shall
be determined by the terms specified in the
Constitution of Ukraine and this Law.
4. The election process shall include the
following stages:
1) the formation of territorial election districts;
2) the formation of election precincts;
3) the formation of territorial and polling
station election commissions;
4) the compilation of lists of voters, their
revision and update;
5) the nomination and registration of candidates;
6) the conduct of the pre-election campaign;
7) voting on the day of elections of the President
of Ukraine;
8) The count of the votes of voters and the
determination of the results of the vote and
the results of the elections of the President
of Ukraine;
5. If necessary, the election process may
as well include the following stages:
1) repeat voting;
2) the count of the votes of voters and thedetermination
of result of the repeat voting and the results
of the elections of the President of Ukraine.
6. The stages, envisaged by part five of this
article, shall only take place in cases envisaged
by this Law.
7. The election process terminates with the
official announcement of the results of elections
of the President of Ukraine by the Central
Election Commission or with the official publication
of a submission of the Central Election Commission
to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine regarding
the calling of repeat elections of the President
of Ukraine.
Article 12. The Subjects of the Election
Process
The subjects of the election process are:
1) the voter;
2) the election commissions formed according
to this Law and the Law of Ukraine "On
the Central Election Commission";
3) the candidates to the post of the President
of Ukraine registered in accordance with the
procedure established by this Law;
4) the parties (blocs), that nominated candidates
to the post of the President of Ukraine;
5) the authorized representatives, proxies
and official observers from parties (blocs)
- subjects of the election process and from
candidates to the post of the President of
Ukraine.
Article 13. Publicity and Openness of the
Election Process
1. The elections of the President of Ukraine
shall be prepared and conducted in a public
and open manner.
2. In order to ensure a the public and open
nature of the election process, the election
commissions, in accordance with their powers,
shall:
1) inform the population about their composition,
location and working hours, about the formation
of territorial election districts and election
precincts, about the voting hours and place,
and about the fundamental rights of voters,
including the right to appeal unlawful decisions,
actions or inactivity of election commissions,
state executive bodies and bodies of local
self-government, enterprises, institutions
and organizations, their directors and other
officials and officers that violate or restrict
the voting rights;
2) ensure opportunities for the citizens to
get acquainted with the lists of voters, with
information about the candidates for the post
of the President of Ukraine and with pre-election
programs of the candidates for the post of
President of Ukraine, and with the procedure
for filling out signature sheets and marking
election ballots;
3) notify the population about the results
ofthe vote and the results of the elections
of the President of Ukraine;
4) provide other information in cases envisaged
by this law.
3. Decisions of election commissions shall
be brought to the knowledge of citizens through
the print press , or, if impossible, made
public publicized otherwise.
4. The mass media shall be obliged to cover
the pace of the election process in an objective
manner. Their representatives shall be guaranteed
unrestricted access to all public election
related events and to sessions of election
commissions and to the polling stations on
the day of elections and on the day of repeat
voting - on the conditions specified in part
nine of article 28 of the this Law. Election
commissions, state executive bodies, bodies
of local self-government, officials and officer
of these bodies shall be obliged, within the
limits of their powers and competence, to
provide representatives of the mass media
with the necessary information regarding the
preparation and conduct of the elections.
5. Election commissions established at diplomatic
and other foreign representations of Ukraine
in countries where a significant number of
voters have residence shall ensure that information
about the voting hours and place and the location
of the respective corresponding polling stations
is published in the local mass media. The
Central Election Commission shall determine
s the list of such countries.
Article 14. The Legal Basis of the Elections
of the President of Ukraine
The preparation and the conduct of elections
of the President of Ukraine are regulated
by the Constitution of Ukraine, this Law,
the Law of Ukraine "On the Central Election
Commission", other laws of Ukraine, Resolutions
of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the calling
of the elections of the President of Ukraine,
as well as other legislative acts adopted
according to this Law.
