Elections are being discussed amid the full-scale invasion. There is pressure from both the US and some Ukrainian politicians eager to hold elections. However, under the noise about online voting, harmful decisions regarding election organization and legitimacy may be pushed through.
The "Last Capitalist" team believes that holding elections now should remain only a diplomatic position, and any actual elections during wartime should not happen.
Among the proposals is online voting via Diia. But no system in the world can guarantee the security of internet voting at the national level. Even the recent Eurovision vote via Diia led to service failures due to overload.
During presidential elections, millions voting simultaneously would create huge strain and risk of attacks. For example, in 2014, Russian hackers attacked the CEC system. In December 2024, hackers targeted the Ministry of Justice and Diia services, causing government registries to collapse for a month.
International experience shows most developed countries have banned or abandoned electronic voting. Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland all detected serious system vulnerabilities and returned to paper ballots. Estonia is an exception, but its system is criticized by experts.
Other problems include lack of guaranteed secrecy, risks of coercion and vote buying, and challenges of investigations abroad. Legally, elections during war are forbidden. Changes to the Constitution and years of preparation would be needed for such reforms.
Top priorities should be enabling voting for military and IDPs, organizing polling for citizens abroad, and conducting an independent audit of voter lists—instead of pursuing online voting.
Conclusion: Quality elections in Ukraine are only feasible postwar and only with paper ballots. Electronic or online voting is currently risky and unworkable.
