The first local elections of heads and deputies of village, settlement, and city councils in 125 united territorial communities will take place on December 23, 2018. Also, an additional election of deputies of village and settlement councils in 26 communities is scheduled for this day.

The first local elections can be conducted in the majority of united territorial communities, but there are some issues with proper documentation and electoral disputes in some communities. The Deputy Head of the Central Election Commission Yevhen Radchenko provided this information to journalists after 10 October meeting.

The Central Election Commission considers the postponement of first local elections in united territorial communities. CEC Head Tetiana Slipachuk gave such information on 8 October meeting.

Newly-appointed members of the Central Election Commission didn't allow the journalists and representatives of Civil Network OPORA to attend its first meeting on 5 October. The election administration body elected its members for senior positions on the meeting.

Working group on consideration of the Election Code considered 180 amendments on its 8 October regular meeting. In particular, the Group supported amendments from Civil Network OPORA concerning the right of observers to attend party congresses dedicated to nomination of candidates for MPs.

On October 5, the Central Election Commission held its first meeting and elected the head, two deputy heads, and Commission's secretary. The meeting was closed for the media, violating their rights.

The Central Election Commission will have the certain challenges before the presidential and parliamentary elections and, therefore, it should gain some trust now. This thesis was aired on consultations “Top priority steps for a new CEC, or how to gain the trust”, held on Friday, 28 September.

With the presidential election campaign fast approaching with the official start in three months’ time, NGOs and experts hold stakeholder consultations. The recent lack of political consensus over the replacement of 13 members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) and the appointment of the 14 new members has postponed urgent measures needed in advance of the two national election campaigns in 2019.