UCCA's voter education project receives $50,000 grant from NED (01/22/06)

UCCA's voter education project receives $50,000 grant from NED

by Tamara Gallo Olexy
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

NEW YORK - On January 13, the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America was informed that its proposal to conduct the pre-election "Voice Your Vote" campaign was approved by the board of directors of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

"Voice Your Vote" will popularize the tenets of a developed democracy through a town hall approach to voter education. The UCCA brought the Western-style town hall meeting concept to Ukraine on two previous occasions - the 1998 parliamentary elections and the 2004 presidential elections - and found the format highly effective, reaching over 20,000 voters.

Town halls promote greater involvement in civic decision-making by engaging the voter in political discourse with political parties and blocs, while simultaneously encouraging voter participation in the elections.

The NED grant of $50,000 will allow the UCCA to set up a series of 15 town hall meetings to encourage interaction between individuals and representatives of political parties and blocs. The town hall meetings will be held primarily in the Eastern, Southern and Central regions of Ukraine where media bias and other abuses have been widely reported in previous years.

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