UA
FR
DEOn the day of voting in the local elections on 25 October, a nationwide poll will be held in Ukraine, where citizens will be asked to answer five questions. This was announced by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky.
“On 25 October, at the polling station, I will ask you five important questions about what we discuss on the street, in the kitchen, and on the Internet, what we argue with friends, parents or taxi drivers, about what we have never been asked before. Five important questions to find out your opinion,” the head of state said in a video message released by a number of Ukrainian TV channels.
Zelensky promised to announce later what questions will be asked to Ukrainians.
Meanwhile, the event announced by the President began to be actively discussed on social networks and the media. In particular, the Central Election Commission told reporters that they were not preparing any polls on the day of the local elections on 25 October. According to the Head of the CEC Press Service, Kostiantyn Khivrenko, the Commission was not tasked with preparing for an all-Ukrainian poll.
The Committee of Voters of Ukraine noted that “the procedure for conducting a nationwide poll on election day is not provided by the Electoral Code.” They also stressed that in the current environment, compliance with the basic rules is impossible and can be seen as a manipulative technology and an attempt to influence the voting results.
The Office of the President of Ukraine called the announced event a form of democracy and promised to ask such questions that no one has ever asked Ukrainians. In addition, the polls, like the referendum, called the opportunity for citizens to directly influence the content of public policy. The poll itself will not have direct legal consequences.
The President’s Office also assures that the topic of Donbas will not be raised, as well as other classic provocative topics that “historically are used by political groups in their aggressive propaganda fakes.”
Bohdan Marusyak
