The extraordinary elections of people’s deputies of Ukraine are finished but the Committee of Voters of Ukraine is still receiving the complaints from voters for not having an opportunity to vote as they didn’t found themselves in the lists. The CVU considers that problems with voter’s lists resulted in fact that several hundred thousand citizens were deprived of their constitutional rights.
The Committee of Voters of Ukraine estimates the voting procedure at the Election Day September 30 at early parliamentary elections as free andtransparent. The CVU registered no significant or system violations and no facts of pressure on voters. At the same time the CVU informs about important organizational problems of early election.
The voting procedure was held in a free and transparent atmosphere. The greatest problem were voter’s lists, which were of a unexampled low quality. However these problems infringed rights of all political parties in all regions of Ukraine so they gave no priority to any political party.
CVU is revealing further drawbacks in the course of voting.
Voting procedure at the snap parliamentary election in Ukraine started at 7. 00 a. m. of September 30. Majority of polling stations were opened in due time; however, occasionally there were some delays. In many regions, number of ballot papers issued was less than the number of voters on lists.
Preliminary observations of the CVU based on election monitoring are as follows: Voting procedure is free and transparent; observers are granted unrestricted access to the majority of polling stations; no gross violations were registered in the morning of September 30. Major drawbacks are poor qualification of polling station commissioners and the great number of mistakes in voter’s lists.
The present monitoring is focused on the September 19-27th election campaign, particularly on polling stations commissions’ activities, voter lists, and propaganda campaign.
The present monitoring is focused on polling stations’ commissions forming and initial steps, voter’s list forming, propaganda campaign. Ten days prior E-Day CVU considers main problems to be as follows: unsatisfactory quality of voter’s lists, mass refusals to fulfill the duties of polling stations election commissioners, legal uncertainty of election procedures because CEC and Constitutional court delay their decisions, and also harsh statements of mail political actors on falsifications, provocations, fear to participate in elections.
From the moment when the snap parliamentary election campaign started, the CVU monitored the election process in all regions of Ukraine. The present monitoring is focused on the September 6-14th election campaign, particularly on voter lists constituting, polling stations’ commissions forming, propaganda campaign.
The present monitoring focused on use of administrative resource and criminal interference into the election process. 2. The most troublesome is that fact that officials of governmental agencies and local self-government bodies combine their jobs and duties of heads of election HQs and parliamentary candidates at early election.
The present monitoring focused on results of registration of parliamentary candidates, agitation, media coverage and criminal interferences into the election process. Following violations were registered: campaigning without formal registration, interferences into campaigning by officials, involvement of public officers in agitation on behalf of some political forces, use of child labor in campaigning, distribution of damaging information on opponents, use of “black PR”.
From the moment when the snap parliamentary election campaign started, the CVU monitored the election process in all regions of Ukraine. Monitoring focused on nomination of candidates for MPs, formation and initial steps of constituency election commissions, and agitation.
Early elections organization and conduction in the capital of Ukraine are the subject of the following research. In Kyiv, political situation makes elections specific. Besides, elections in Kyiv always attract higher mass media and international observers attention, so, it will influence the general perception and evaluation of elections.
The Committee of Voters of Ukraine is the all-Ukrainian NGO that has been performing comprehensive monitoring of campaigns in Ukraine in terms of observance of the national legislation and international standards of fair and democratic election by all stakeholders since 1994. From the moment when the snap parliamentary election campaign started, the CVU monitored the election process.
On August 13, 2007 Central Election Commission complied with all-Ukrainian non-governement civic organization’s “Committee of voters of Ukraine” petition about authorization to have official observers at the early elections of people’s deputies of Ukraine on September 30, 2007.