Electoral participation of internally displaced persons (IDPs) : a case study of Ukraine

Abstract

The aim of the presented thesis is to examine electoral participation of IDPs in Ukraine’s elections in the view of relevant international standards. To this end, this thesis provides a comprehensive overview of IDP electoral participation from the theoretical perspective which is put into the contrast with often lacking practical realization of IDP voting rights. Based on this tension, a list of critical areas of IDP electoral participation is formulated and utilised for the purposes of the case study analysis. In order to assess IDP electoral participation in the view of international standards, next part of the thesis deals with relevant international instruments protecting IDP voting rights and summarizes Ukraine’s commitments in this regard. Subsequently, the case study of Ukraine is analysed in regard to three electoral process held in the recent years and following the assessment framework created in the previous part. Building upon conclusions of the previous parts, the last part of the thesis assesses Ukraine’s compliance with relevant international standards in light of IDP electoral participation in Ukraine’s elections. The thesis finds that IDP electoral participation in Ukraine’s elections was mostly impeded by various obstacles of practical and legal nature which resulted in Ukraine’s failure to follow its international commitments regarding IDP enfranchisement.