On July 7-14, 2012, Ukraine’s Central Election Commission Member M.Okhendovskyi paid a working visit to the U.S. wherein he held a number of meetings with representatives of the U.S. Administration, Congress, think tanks and NGOs, Ukrainian community and mass media.
While in the U.S., Mr.Okhendovskyi participated in the round table discussion at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on the elections to the Parliament of Ukraine to be held on October 28, 2012. He also ran a conference with staff of the Ukraine’s diplomatic missions in the U.S. – members of the working groups on the elections to the Parliament.
Mr.Okhendovskyi informed about the structure and main working principles of the Central Election Commission of Ukraine as an independent state body charged with election process organization, implementation of approved by consensus by all political parties a new Law on Ukraine’s People Deputies Elections, practical aspects of elections preparations and use of the election law, as well as improvement of the Voters’ State Register that is considered to be one of the world-best voters accounting systems in terms of its accuracy and completeness.
Ukraine’s Central Election Commission Member emphasized that all the necessary conditions for fair, free, valid and transparent elections have been provided. Also, the state has been in a position to conduct the elections in accordance with the highest world and European standards like it was already demonstrated during previous presidential and parliamentary elections. Mr.Okhendovskyi highlighted Ukraine’s interest in having a maximum quantity of international observers and state’s preparedness to facilitate their work.