Following his announcement to dissolve the Verkhovna Rada - Ukraine's Parliament - during his inaugural address, Ukraine’s newly-elected President, Volodymyr Zelensky, signed a presidential decree on 21 May, 2019, dissolving the VIII Convocation of the Verkhovna Rada and calling for snap parliamentary elections. The decree was published on 23 May, 2019, in the Uryadoviy Kuryer (Government's Courier) newspaper, which under Ukrainian law means the decree has entered into force. Accordingly, Ukraine’s electorate will head to the polls on 21 July, 2019, to choose 424 representatives the Verkhovna Rada.

President Zelensky also proposed changes to Ukraine's electoral law, calling for electing the next Rada entirely on party lists and a reduction in the voting threshold. However, Members of Parliament rejected these proposed changes by a vote of 226-92. Hence, the 21 July parliamentary elections will be held under the current election law – a mix of first-past-the-post, single-member constituencies and party lists with a 5% election threshold.

In response to this development, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA), the largest representation of Americans of Ukrainian descent, is once again seeking volunteers to join its official Election Observation Mission (EOM) to monitor the snap parliamentary elections in Ukraine. As one of the few non-governmental organizations, and the only Ukrainian-American community organization, registered with Ukraine’s Central Election Commission (CEC), UCCA has organized and sent EOMs to Ukraine for every election since 1991.

Interested individuals must fill out the attached observer application and provide a scanned copy of their passport to UCCA's national office by July 1^st.

With long-term experience in observing elections, UCCA's EOM will coordinate official CEC accreditation, organize in-country travel and lodging, and conduct a training briefing for its observers on how best to serveas international election monitors. The goal of UCCA's EOM is to support an open and transparent electoral process during the run-off elections,specifically to monitor adherence to the law, prevent violations and provocations at polling stations during voting and provide an assessment of the electoral process.

UCCA does not support any one candidate or political party and supports Ukraine’s commitment to OSCE standards for a free and fair election that accurately reflects the will of the electorate. UCCA's mission is therefore comprised of volunteers, withregistered International Election Observers responsible for all costs related to their participation in the EOM, including, but not limited to, travel and lodging.
 
For further information about UCCA's International Election Observer program, or to submit your application, please email UCCA’s EOM Coordinator, Tamara Olexy at tolexy@ucca.org.