Thesis for obtaining a scientific degree of Candidate of Legal Sciences, specialty 12.00.07 – «Administrative Law and Procedure; Financial Law; Information Law». – Scientific Institute of Public Law, Volodymyr Vynnychenko Central Ukrainian State University. Kropyvnytskyi, 2025.
The dissertation provides a theoretical generalization and a new solution to the scientific problem, which lies in identifying the essence and revealing the peculiarities of the administrative and legal mechanism for preparing and conducting elections in Ukraine, on the basis of which scientifically grounded proposals and recommendations aimed at improving the relevant mechanism are provided.
It has been established that elections are a form of direct expression of the will of the people, through which citizens exercise their right to participate in the formation of state authorities or local self-government bodies by voting for candidates or electoral lists, conducted in accordance with legally established procedures on the basis of universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot.
It has been proven that the administrative and legal mechanism for preparing and conducting elections in Ukraine is a system of administrative and legal means, forms, and procedures through which state authorities, local self-government bodies, electoral commissions, and other public administration entities ensure the organization, management, and control of the preparation and conduct of elections in accordance with the requirements of electoral legislation for the purpose of enabling citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
It has been argued that the purpose of preparing and conducting elections is twofold. On the one hand, it is to legitimize public authority based on the public approval of its representatives by the majority of the Ukrainian people. On the other one, it is the embodiment of the institutions of a democratic society: ensuring the realization of the electoral rights of the country’s citizens. At the same time, it is noted that both aspects of the goal are complementary and do not exist separately from each other. In accordance with the outlined goal, the tasks of preparing and conducting elections have been systematized.
It has been established that the regulatory and legal basis for the preparation and conduct of elections is defined by a system of regulatory and legal acts of varying legal force. They are based on the democratic values of the exercise of popular sovereignty on the basis of free expression of will through universal, equal, and direct suffrage by secret ballot, built on the principle of non-discrimination. It is noted that administrative law norms play a key role in the system of relevant principles. A number of arguments have been presented to support this thesis.
It has been emphasized that the general object of public-legal relations regarding the preparation and conduct of elections is the intangible benefit of expressing the free will of citizens through active or passive participation in the political life of the country. Additional objects include the right to be recognized as a participant in the electoral process, the right to access the means of expressing one’s will, the right to a secret ballot, etc. The specification of additional objects largely depends on the legal status of the participant in the public legal relations under consideration.
