Parliament currently operates in a closed mode due to the war, and the timelines for reviewing legislative initiatives have become critically short. Bills can reach the floor for a vote during the same week they are registered, or immediately following a committee meeting that approved amendments. Furthermore, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy may sign a bill into law on the same day it is passed.

A striking example of this “wartime turbo-regime” was the law that liquidated the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO), which sparked mass protests during the war (Project 12414). As a result, civil society and experts are left with very little time to analyze legislative activity. Consequently, blocking harmful legislative initiatives has become significantly more difficult.

Moreover, we must be prepared for post-war elections following the Ukrainian victory. Voters must have access to systematized information regarding the voting records of every Member of Parliament (MP) and remember who supported high-risk projects or hindered the country’s path toward European integration.

The RechargeUA project was created as a “single window” for civil society advocacy and a tool for voters. It aims to facilitate informed choices and foster a new quality of political culture—encouraging politicians to respect socio-political sentiment and participate actively in voting (pressing “for,” “against,” or “abstain” buttons rather than removing cards from slots, which violates Parliamentary Rules of Procedure).

Media outlets, which are currently hindered in their development of parliamentary journalism due to the unjustified closed nature of Parliament, will be able to promptly receive graphical data on the voting patterns of political forces and visualized roll-call data featuring the portraits of every MP.

Tool methodology

Landmark Decisions

Legislative initiatives of significant societal importance are categorized within this tool as harmful (red) or beneficial (green). To be included in the list of landmark initiatives, a bill must meet the following criteria:

• Collective Statements: Presence of joint statements from NGOs, media, or specialized associations demanding support or rejection of a legislative initiative, supported by analysis highlighting its benefits or risks.
• Petitions: Petitions that have gathered the required signatures demanding the support or veto of a legislative initiative.
• Expert Analysis: Analytical materials proving that the initiative’s provisions violate the Constitution, enable corruption schemes, or infringe upon citizens’ rights.
• International Requirements: Requirements from Western partners that are critical for the European integration course and military assistance to the country.

If a legislative initiative or law meets one or more of these criteria, a dedicated entry is added to the “Landmark Votes” section with links to statements, petitions, and analytical materials. Specific landmark amendments may also be added if they were subjected to separate roll-call votes.

Tool Sections and Functionality

“Under Consideration”: Bills currently being reviewed by the Verkhovna Rada are placed in this section. It serves as a unified advocacy window; specialized NGOs can contact “Holka” with appropriate justification to have a specific bill added to the list.

“Voted”: This section serves as a “political memory.” Once a vote occurs, the tool pulls data from the Verkhovna Rada website, allowing voters and media to see how factions, groups, and independent MPs voted. The data is broken down by factions, groups, and single-mandate constituencies, ranked by region.

Accountability: Each bill identifies its primary author. While voting data is sourced from the official Parliament website, the distribution of votes into factions and groups is based on current membership. This ensures that political forces—which often change names to escape their past—cannot shed their “political trail” and remain responsible for the team members they recruit.

Founding Organizations: The Center for Innovations Development, the Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group, and the DEJURE Foundation joined the formation of this tool at its launch. This list remains open for expansion.

MP Profiles

The “MPs” section features profiles for every politician who held a representative mandate during the 9th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada.

If an MP has participated in more than five landmark votes during their tenure, a “Battery” icon is added to their profile with the following indicators:

• Green: Voted for beneficial projects and against harmful ones.
• Red: Voted against beneficial projects and for harmful ones.
• Yellow: Abstained.
• Dark Grey: Card present in the slot, but the MP did not vote or was absent.
• This is the inspiration for the name “RechargeUA.” By looking at an MP’s “battery,” a voter can easily determine to what extent a politician is “charging” or “discharging” the country.

To provide additional context, profiles also include a political biography detailing their voting record on landmark decisions. Representatives of specialized NGOs and national/regional media contribute to these biographies, while a lawyer from the “Svoi Lyudy” (Our People) project performs the final proofreading.

A disclaimer at the end of each profile notes that inquiries can be submitted to the “Holka” organization if a user identifies incorrect information. All inquiries will receive a response.

“Top 5 MPs” Rating

The “Top 5 MPs Charging the Country” and “Top 5 MPs Discharging the Country” ratings will appear no earlier than six months after the launch of RechargeUA. This rating compares MPs based on their percentage of harmful versus beneficial votes.

This six-month window allows civil society and stakeholders enough time to propose bills for inclusion and build a robust dataset for comparison.

The ranking applies exclusively to current MPs who have held their powers since the first day of the term (August 29, 2019), ensuring a fair comparison of their performance. In the future, the tool will expand to monitor the voting records of the Kyiv City Council.