Ukrainian CEC confirms that there will be no local elections in the fall of 2025

The Central Election Commission has confirmed that due to Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, regular local elections will not be held in 2025. The publication about this appeared on the institution's website.

According to the law, regular local elections in Ukraine are held simultaneously throughout the country on the last Sunday of October in the fifth year of the term of office of local councils and mayors. The date of these elections is set by the Verkhovna Rada no later than 90 days before the election day.

Due to the full-scale war in Ukraine, martial law has been introduced, during which no elections are organized or held, and thus the parliament has not decided to call regular local elections. If there had been no martial law, the Rada would have had to do so by July 28, 2025.

In view of this, the Central Election Commission stated that there were no grounds for submitting nominations to territorial election commissions (TECs), as well as for the formation of new TECs of different levels by it and district and city commissions, which prepare and conduct local elections in Ukraine.

The CEC also emphasized to local organizations of political parties that a prerequisite for submitting candidates to the commissions is the decision of the Rada to call regular local elections and determine the date of their holding.

"No elections are organized or held during martial law, so the TEC members who were formed at the regular local elections on October 25, 2020, continue to exercise their powers until a new composition of the relevant territorial election commission is formed," said Serhiy Postivyi, a member of the Central Election Commission.

• If there had been no full-scale war, the parliamentary elections would have been held in October 2023, and the first round of presidential elections in March 2024.
• The CEC and the Ukrainian authorities have consistently advocated against holding elections during martial law.