Lozynskyi: lists at special polling stations will be formed two to three weeks before the election to avoid dead souls

They will enter those who will actually be present in the unit at the time of submission.

The working subgroup for preparing electoral legislation for the first postwar elections has put in place a number of safeguards against abuse, “carousels,” and commanders’ pressure at special polling stations.

This was stated in an interview with LB.ua by First Deputy Chair of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building and a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Roman Lozynskyi.

According to him, the first safeguard is the very procedure for establishing such a polling station. He explained that a special polling station is possible only on a substantiated submission from the Ministry of Defense in exceptional cases and by decision of the CEC, which must confirm the absence of ordinary polling stations and the impossibility of providing logistics and transport for voters.

The second key safeguard the deputy named is the procedure for forming voter lists from among military personnel for the first postwar elections. Under the proposed rule, only those who will actually be present in the unit at the time of submission — two to three weeks before election day — will be entered on the station’s lists.

“If, God forbid, someone from that military unit went missing but is still listed, and he or she has been absent for a long time (perhaps in captivity, perhaps there is no information), then they will not be submitted on the voter lists,” Lozynskyi said.

He emphasized that this prevents the appearance of potential “dead souls” for whom votes could be cast: “If we say that only those who are actually in the unit are entered, these ‘dead souls’ definitely will not be on the voter lists, and definitely no one will vote for them.” This, he added, also applies to those who left the unit without authorization.

The deputy acknowledged that in a hierarchical structure a commander may try to abuse rank and direct personnel. He expressed hope that such cases will not occur or will be exceptional, but even for them the rules set out criteria under which a submission to establish a station is possible — in particular, so that “suddenly 10 thousand voters in the form of three brigades” do not appear.

Lozynskyi also addressed observation, which is foreseen even at special polling stations, but it will be regulated.

“A so-called observer in a so-called territory” should not gather information about basements and garages and then “come, register, leave, and post intelligence on Telegram to the Russians,” the deputy warned.

Therefore, such observers will undergo an accreditation procedure. At the same time, he stressed that accreditation should not turn into the exclusion of inconvenient observers for political reasons.