DEMOCRACY IN UKRAINE

Student question about Ukraine elections

Question: Hello, my name is Rheadawn Chiles. I am a student at Watchcare Academy in Denver. I would like to ask you a question about the election taking place in Ukraine. My question is:

Who are the candidates in the upcoming election?

Sincerely,
Rheadawn Chiles
4th Grade

Answer: Thanks Rheadawn, for the great question. Actually, there are not really candidates on the ballot — at least not for the national election which I am here to observe. I know this sounds strange at first.

Instead of having a congress like we have in the United States, Ukraine has a parliament. Ukraine's Parliament is called the Verkhovna Rada. If you were to watch the Verkhovna Rada in session, it would look a lot like our the U.S. Senate of our Congress. One key difference is in how the politicians are selected.

Keep in mind Ukraine has a parliamentary form of government with 46 registered political parties. As you know, in the U.S. we have two main parties — Republicans and Democrats. In Ukraine, each party makes a long list of the people it would like to see serve in the Ukrainian Parliament.

Think of these party lists as team rosters like on a football team. In Ukraine, these teams try to get voters to choose the whole team rather than the individual players.

The total number of votes the party team gets this Sunday determines how many of its team members get to serve in the Parliament. In other words, if for example, your favorite team gets 50% of all votes cast on Sunday, then the first 50% of the Parliament would come from your team's list — and the team members are selected in the same order that your team's list.

I hope that answers your superb question clearly. Thanks, again for submitting it.

Former U.S. Congressman Bob Schaffer, a member of the Colorado State Board of Education, is an election observer for the Parliamentary elections in Ukraine. The election is coming up this Sunday, March 26.