The Bill (Reg.No.1269) proposes to amend several clauses in the Laws, 'On Election of The People's Deputies of Ukraine' and 'On the Election of The Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils, and Village, Community and City Mayors', stipulating that a Political Party (Bloc) must receive three percent of those electors' votes declared valid, removing from the tally those bulletins declared invalid.
For this approach to be realised, it is necessary for a new category to be introduced : 'Electors who fulfilled their Will', i.e. those who voted for the Electoral List of Candidates from one of the Political Parties (blocs), together with those who did not support any of the Candidates included in the Electoral Lists.
Committee members upheld the ideas behind the Bill, but, however, expressed several reservations thereto.
They noted that the proposed amendments to these Laws aim ‘to modify the formula defining the Right for a division of Deputies´ Mandates by candidates included in the Electoral List of Parties, i.e. calculating the so-called ‘Entry Barrier´.
The People´s Deputies stressed that, according to current Legislation, a three percent barrier is determined as a ratio of the number of electors´ votes in support of a given political party (bloc), to the number of voters taking part in voting. Under the Bill, the number of votes of electors taking part in voting is replaced by the number of votes of electors who fulfilled their will during voting
This approach, insist Committee Members, will lead to a lowering of the three percent entry barrier, in terms of the number of votes. Also, the Bill must provide for a more clear-cut definition of the notion ‘fulfillment of will by the voters´.
Those present at the meeting drew attention to the fact that the amendments, as suggested, primarily seek to improve the mechanism for determining the entry barrier, used as an element of the proportional electoral system. The amendments envisaged in Clauses 69, 72 and 73 of the Law ‘On the Election of The Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils, and Village, Community and City Mayors' are only related to those provisions of the Law which regulate the issue of Reports, by the Election Committees, on the outcome of Local Elections held using the majority system.
The Committee upheld the idea offered by the Sponsor of the Bill to the effect that the total number of electors voting for one of the parties (blocs), together with those who did not support any of the Candidates included in the Electoral Lists, is decisive in calculating the percentage of votes for each electoral bloc in elections of People´s Deputies of Ukraine, Deputies of The Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Local Councils, with invalid bulletins discarded.
At the same time, Committee Members do not consider it expedient to make individual amendments to the Laws, ‘'On Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine' and 'On the Election of The Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Local Councils, and Village, Community and City Mayors', since they require comprehensive improvements.
The Committee resolved to draw on this Bill during preparation of comprehensive improvements to the Electoral Legislation, and involve the Sponsor of this Bill, People´s Deputy Oleh Zarubinsky, in this task.