Berlin-Kyiv, Juni 25, 2017

Electoral reform is a crucial component of a strong and sustainable democracy in Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian election legislation ranks among the least stable in Europe. Six out of the last eight parliamentary elections in Ukraine were held under different electoral legal frameworks.  In most cases, either new wording or major changes to the electoral legal framework were introduced shortly before the elections.This prevented experts, political parties, and other stakeholders from engaging in an open, fully-fledged debate on the amendment bills. Both parliamentary and local elections shared the same set of problems. This paper outlines the most important challenges of the current electoral reform process in Ukraine.