June 2015—Prior to Ukraine’s parliamentary elections last fall, candidates received some valuable guidance about how to more effectively convey their campaign messages and articulate election platform goals in a more sophisticated manner.

The successful election campaign of Member of Parliament Ruslan Demchak, for example, shows how simple, time-tested campaign techniques can lead to success. Demchak came in first in single-mandate* district #18 during the October 2014 elections of Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, with 52 percent of the vote in his district within Vinnytsia oblast. This was Demchak’s second run for parliament, after an unsuccessful bid in 2012.

 In preparing for the 2014 campaign, Demchak and his team relied heavily on principles and techniques learned during a USAID voter communication training in September, which was conducted by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs.

“Basically, what we did was simply apply ... campaign tools to the practical aspects of our election campaign,” said Demchak. “The final voting results are the proof of their effectiveness.”

Before canvassing voters, Demchak’s team developed a voter targeting matrix and posted it in every campaign office. The voter matrix helped campaign staffers understand Demchak’s core and likely supporters as well as those who would not vote for him. The campaign staff also used the matrix data to create communication strategies and tools targeting core supporters.

Following another recommendation from the training, Demchak’s team developed get-out-the-vote leaflets to ensure his supporters were energized and engaged on Election Day.

Today, Demchak has constituency offices in all rayons of his district and continues to keep in regular contact with the electorate. He returns to his district at least biweekly, maintaining and building on the communication techniques he first developed during the training.

The activity was part of USAID’s Strengthening Political Processes in Ukraine Program, which works to make political processes and actors more representative, transparent and accountable to citizens. The program, which runs from 2009 to 2016, is implemented by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

*A single-mandate district has one representative in a given elected body.

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