Organising voting for service personnel is not difficult, but the right to stand for election would require changes to leave rules and asset declarations.
First Deputy Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksandr Korniienko said this in an interview with LB.ua.
According to him, the issue of military participation in elections has been excessively politicised, and a subgroup led by MP Roman Lozynskyi (Holos), together with representatives of the General Staff, has already identified straightforward solutions.
“Service personnel who are not at the front or in the frontline area vote where they live. There is no need to create any separate polling stations. For those at the front or in the frontline area — if we are talking about a stable ceasefire — there will be so-called frontline polling stations,” Korniienko said.
The opposition has criticised the idea of frontline polling stations; however, the First Deputy Speaker stresses that it concerns a limited number of people.
“But I would remind you that we are talking about several tens of thousands of service personnel who will be guarding the front line, not the entire million-strong army. A few dozen kilometres from the front there will be ordinary polling stations,” he noted.
Separately, the issue of declarations for military candidates will have to be regulated.
“As for standing for election, we need to work not on electoral legislation but on military legislation. We need to make it possible to take leave and to regulate the rules on declarations, because we will not avoid mandatory declarations for candidates, while service personnel can currently refrain from declaring,” Korniienko said.