Mykolaiv City Council suspected of non-transparent voting

The scandal surrounding online voting in Mykolaiv City Council has raised doubts about the integrity of the decisions made. Deputies work remotely, and it is almost impossible to check their presence during sessions.

This was reported by Chesno.

The Mykolaiv City Council was suspected of non-transparency in online voting after some deputies claimed that their votes were not recorded correctly. At the same time, the broadcasts of the sessions do not allow checking the presence of all the deputies, which casts doubt on the legitimacy of the decisions.

In early September, the Mykolaiv City Council was suspected of non-transparency in online voting. Popular blogger Ihor Lachenkov published a post on his Telegram channel about alleged "fraud" during the last session of the city council.

According to him, during the voting, several deputies claimed that they did not participate and reported this to the mayor's office, but in the official statement, their votes were reflected as "For". In addition, some of the deputies allegedly experienced pressure from the mayor to support the decision.

Intent has repeatedly drawn attention to these problems and sent relevant inquiries to local authorities.

Last year, experts from the Odesa regional organization ofthe Committee of Voters of Ukraine analyzed the work of Mykolaiv City Council. It turned out that in addition to non-transparent voting, when the presence of deputies is not visible on the screen, there are other problems with the organization of online meetings. According to the rules, the mayor convenes the session, and information about the remote meeting must be published no later than 24 hours before the start.

Instead, this rule is often violated: the agenda and draft decisions are published on the council's website on the last night before the session. During meetings, the screen often lacks images of many deputies, which casts doubt on the legitimacy of the votes. Some deputies turn off their cameras after confirming their presence, continuing to participate without video recording, making it difficult to verify their presence.

After the session, protocols, voting results, and videos are published, but often with a delay. Experts have repeatedly drawn attention to the shortcomings of the voting and sent inquiries to the local authorities. In late July, the city council again violated the voting procedure. Nomax agency programmer Ihor Fomenko explained that voting is conducted through Zoom without additional authorization systems, such as Diia or banking, and with the screen turned off, it is impossible to confirm who is actually voting, as anyone can access the platform via an email link, which creates security risks.

On September 2, 2025, Tetiana Dombrovska, a member of the Servant of the People party, announced her intention to change the results of the online vote. Mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych assured that the ZOOM platform, which has been used during sessions since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, is working properly.

At the same time, the problem is deeper: local media report that in the summer, the mayor's office changed the format of broadcasts - only the speaker's face was shown on the screen. Because of this, it is impossible to check the presence of other deputies on the recordings of the sessions of June 26, July 17 and 31, and August 28, which casts doubt on the quorum.

Journalists suggested that the requirement to keep cameras on during online meetings should be included in the council's regulations, but their recommendations were not heeded. After the publicity, the deputies returned to the screens, but continued to work remotely: one of them voted while driving a car, and another elected official washed her hair in a salon.

Анна Бальчінос