Criminalization of “Button-Press Voting”

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Primary author: Ruslan Stefanchuk

Across several parliamentary convocations, Members of Parliament repeatedly violated the Constitution of Ukraine by engaging in non-personal voting, when one MP could vote on behalf of others whose voting cards remained inserted in the voting slots. This practice undermined the legitimacy of decisions made by the country’s legislative body.

One of the most notorious cases of proxy voting involved former MP Mykhailo Chechetov of the Party of Regions, who was known for organizing and effectively directing such practices.

After the 2019 parliamentary elections, two MPs from the “Servant of the People” faction were immediately caught engaging in proxy voting. The Head of the faction, Davyd Arakhamia, stated that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacted to the incident with strong disapproval. A week after the incident, MP Ruslan Stefanchuk registered a draft law on the criminalization of proxy voting.

However, even after the adoption of the law, proxy voting did not fully stop. For example, during the appointment of Serhii Shkarlet as Minister of Education and Science, the voting board displayed exactly 226 votes in favor, although MPs present in the chamber claimed that this result was achieved through proxy voting.

The first MP against whom a criminal case was opened as a result of investigative efforts by the civic movement Chesno was majoritarian MP Vladyslav Poliak.

A so-called “sensor button” designed to prevent proxy voting began operating in March 2021, although it had been installed in Parliament as early as 2008. To cast a vote, an MP must simultaneously press and hold buttons with both hands on the voting console until the end of the voting procedure. This technical mechanism makes non-personal voting effectively impossible.

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