Social:Piano voting in Ukraine

Verkhovna Rada deputies voting for absent colleagues for the 2013 budget

A button pusher (Ukrainian: кнопкодав, Knopkodav) is a term in Ukrainian politics and society related to a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (the parliament of Ukraine) who votes on a motion by using their own identity card as well as ones belonging to other deputies.

This voting is done either with or without the consent of the absent deputies.

On 2 March 2021, sensor technologies were installed in the Ukrainian parliament that were designed to make it impossible for members of parliament (MPs) to vote on behalf of absent colleagues (since they need now to use both their hands for a single vote).

Etymology

The term "button pusher" emerged in the early 2000s in a journalistic environment for designating MPs who vote on behalf of their colleagues.

Other names for this phenomenon are "vote in the dark", "truant voting", "multiple voting", "vote for himself and for the other guy", "piano voting", "pianism".

The participants of "button pushing" are MPs—"button pushers" who vote with another's card, as well as those that provide their voting card or a duplicate card to a "button pusher".

Description

If unable to attend the legislature personally, a deputy might give his or her personal voting card to a fellow deputy. Alternately, duplicate cards might be issued without the knowledge of their supposed "owner".

If voting for a neighbour, the "button pusher" inserts the missing deputy's card for the e-voting system "Rada," without getting up from their seat, and either openly or secretly (with a hand covered by newspapers, magazines, or the like) pushes the button to vote for or against the measure.

If voting for several deputies, the button pusher moves from one seat to the next with multiple voting cards and pushes the buttons the same way. One such button pusher was found to have voted on average for 9.8 missing persons. Often when an absolute majority of 226 deputies was required, the button pushers were responsible for 35-40 votes.

Before the start of every session of the parliament, deputies have to register personally with their people's deputy cards and personal signatures. The deputies should also register via the parliamentary electronic system at the session hall, and thus other people will be unable to register in place of deputies.

History

"Button pushing" reached its peak in the 6th convocation (2007–2012) at the initiative and with the organizational support of leadership factions among the ruling majority - Party of Regions and Communist Party of Ukraine. According to NGO Chesno, only one lawmaker during this convocation of the Verkhovna Rada never resorted to piano voting — the other 449 all did. Tactics were quick voting when the current favourable government decisions were to be taken quickly, with little to no discussion, often in the evening or at night by pressing of the team of "button pushers", about 35-40 MPs. The Party of Regions faction leadership would commit MPs to vote for other members. Before the vote, the responsible persons of the faction of the Party of Regions deputies dealt another card. Defending the practice of non-personal voting, representatives of the ruling majority called it "delegation of authority". The Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine together were against criminal liability for "button pushing".

In 2008 sensor technologies were installed (through an initiative by then Parliamentary Speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk) in the Ukrainian parliament that were designed to make it impossible for MPs to vote on behalf of absent colleagues. However, the proposed format was found to be technically flawed and vulnerable to abuses and the technologies were not put to use.

A bill introducing voting by lawmakers with the help of a touch-sensitive key was not passed in mid-March 2011, with only 222 out of the 428 MPs registered in the session hall voting for the adoption of the bill.

On 6 December 2012 the Parliament of Ukraine amended the Regulation (Article 37), which required MPs to register in person to attend meetings of Parliament, vote and vote in person. According to the law, before the opening of each session of Parliament shall be registered MPs' personally based identification and handwritten signatures. In the boardroom the deputy would be recorded through the e-voting system "Rada", so that would rule out the registration of another person in lieu of the deputy.

From the earliest days of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine at the 7th convocation (2012–2014), the opposition faction in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine — consisting of "Batkivshchyna", the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform (UDAR), VO "Svoboda", made a series of coordinated measures to cease "button pushing" by the faction of the Party of Regions.

On February 5, 2013, deputies from the opposition blocked the rostrum. A representative of the "UDAR" came to the session in a red sweater with the words "Vote personally". Simultaneously the faction VO "Svoboda" filed a bill criminalizing voting on behalf of others in the legislature. This document provided penalties for deputies who vote this way of imprisonment from 5 to 8 years.

Yuriy Odarchenko, a member of the "Batkivshchyna" party, filed a lawsuit against the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine with the requirement for MPs to only enter their own personal votes, and cancel any previous resolutions which passed in violation of the regulations. The MP called for the implementation of electronic voting in a way that would make it impossible for piano voting to continue by preventing a deputy from registering other deputies who may not be present and voting for them. He also demanded for acts passed from December 13, 2012, to January 11, 2013, to be recognised as illegal and for the illegal acts to be cancelled. The lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine, on February 5, 2013.

In addition, the European Court of Human Rights in January 2013 made a decision in the case "Alexander Volkov v. Ukraine," in which the judge found that the voting system of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was in violation of the established procedure outlined by the Council of Europe.

On 22 February, 2013, procedural measures were implemented to prevent multiple voting. Voting for other deputies became prohibited by law. This did not stop "piano-voting" from being rampant in Ukraine. In July 2013 the de facto Chief Whip of the Party of Regions Mykhailo Chechetov defended the practise of piano voting by stating, "What matters is that decisions that the country needs get passed."

After the 2014 Ukrainian Revolution the new political climate demanded action against multi-voting. A tender was announced for a new parliamentary voting system, but no funding was ever allocated.

Following Volodymyr Zelensky’s election win in the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election and the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election the piano-voting issue once more began to attract attention. In December 2019 (due to the initiative of the Servant of the People party) "button pushing" was made punishable by a fine of ₴3,000-5,000. According to Peter Dickinson of the Atlantic Council (in March 2021) this fine "had failed to produce a flurry of prosecutions and had little discernible impact on actual instances of multiple voting in parliament."

The first attempt to hold an MP legally accountable for "piano-voting" was announced by Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova on 12 February 2021.

On 2 March 2021 sensor technologies, that used the equipment already installed in 2008, were put to use in the Ukrainian parliament that technically made it impossible for MPs to vote on behalf of absent colleagues; since they need now to use both their hands for a single vote. In order to cast their vote, an MP must activate the sensor with one hand whilst voting with the other. MPs must keep the sensor activated throughout the duration of the voting period, thereby preventing them from voting on behalf of neighbouring MPs.

Examples

Over the years various deputies have stated that although they could not take part in votes, nevertheless their votes were registered in parliament. In April 2011, a vote from Deputy Mykola Lisin was registered although he had died four days before the voting. Rinat Akhmetov, who was a Deputy for the Party of Regions from 2006 until 2012, was seen in the Verkhovna Rada building only once in the course of his five-year parliamentary membership. However, his voting card was used in hundreds of votes.

The following acts in the Verkhonva Rada were adopted with the use of piano-voting:

• Changes to the Constitution of Ukraine in 2004, which established the date of presidential elections in Ukraine.
• The Law of Ukraine "On measures to ensure the legislative reform of the pension system".
• The 2012 bill "On the principles of the State language policy" (Only 172 deputies actually voted, not 234, as officially announced).
• A new Criminal Procedural Code of Ukraine (adopted by 50 MPs instead of 226) in 2012.
• Ihor Sorkin's 2013 appointment to the position of governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
• In December 2020, Voice claimed that two deputies that were not present in the Verkhovna Rada building voted for the appointment of Serhiy Shkarlet as Minister of Education and Science (who was appointed with exactly the 226 required votes).

Legal analysis of violations of the law

On the criminal nature of voting for another in the Ukrainian parliament by the analysis of provisions which regulated the legislative procedure. Personal vote required by the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 84: "Voting at meetings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine made deputy of Ukraine in person".

The presence and direct participation in meetings of the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is not a matter of free decision for MPs, as under paragraph 3 first part of the 24th article of the law ""About the Status of the People's Deputy of Ukraine", it is their duty to be present during these meetings.

However, today the legislation also provides liability for card use another MP (including duplicate) for registration and voting by electronic system (voting for someone else's card), as well as unauthorized intervention in the electronic voting system of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and issuance of duplicate voting cards without the consent of the MP.

See also

• People's Deputy of Ukraine
• Verkhovna Rada
• Party switching