The place and role of official observers from foreign states and international organizations in elections: the experience of Ukraine and foreign countries

Abstract

The article states that formation of representative state and local self-governmental authorities is an important stage of state formation. And the legitimacy of both their conduct and the representative public authorities in Ukraine depends on the extent to which it will be carried out within the framework of the election legislation and the extent to which the domestic legislator will provide anti-fraud factors and safeguards against mass violations of various elections.
 National and foreign practice proves that the institution of election monitoring that is represented by various observers who contribute to the conduct of election campaigns on a democratic basis in accordance with the electoral standards developed by the international community, is rather effective in this respect.
 In Ukraine, the status of official observers is granted to: 1) official observers from candidates, parties (organizations of parties) - subjects of the election process, 2) official observers from public organizations which are duly authorized to have official observers in the relevant elections, 3) official observers from foreign states and international organizations who can observe the election process.
 The Electoral Code of Ukraine defines the status of official observers differently, in particular, official observers from foreign states and international organizations are not recognized as subjects of the election process. However, this does not diminish their role in monitoring the electoral process in Ukraine by the legality of the actions of its subjects. The introduction of the institution of official observers from foreign states and international organizations is seen as expression of trust between states and as evidence of the intention of these countries and international organizations to contribute to the democratization of the electoral process in the world.
 The paper reveals the legal nature of official observers from foreign states and international organizations, highlights the standards of legal status of official observers from foreign states and international organizations developed by international organizations, considers national and foreign experience of legal regulation of their status and substantiates provisions on necessity for improvement of national electoral legislation on this basis.