II. Comments on the text of the draft law
A. Basic Principles
The draft law stipulates in Article 9 (1) that the right to be elected is subject to a five year residency requirement. This residency requirement is excessive and unnecessary. In principle, a length-of-residence requirement may be imposed on nationals for local and regional elections only, and the requisite period of residence should not exceed six months. A longer period may be required only to protect national minorities.[1] Therefore, consideration should be given to reducing the length of the residency requirement. The Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR are aware that such limitation is based on Article 76 of the Constitution of Ukraine and hope that this problem will be considered when the Constitution is revised.
[1] Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters, I 1.1 c iii-iv: iii. a length of residence requirement may be imposed on nationals solely for local or regional elections; iv. the requisite period of residence should not exceed six months; a longer period may be required only to protect national minorities.