25 May 2014
MEDIA RELEASE
Ukrainian World Congress Observation Mission: Elections in Ukraine were truly democratic
As of 23:30 on 25 May 2014 the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) International Election Observation Mission to the Presidential Election in Ukraine notes that the election of the President of Ukraine was conducted honestly and in accordance with internationally accepted democratic standards.
During the electoral process no significant infractions were observed that could materially impact the results of the vote, particularly the misuse of administrative resources, the bribing of voters, mass dumping of ballots and multiple voting, which were common during the parliamentary elections of 2012 and 2013.
UWC observers recorded a range of infractions in various regions of Ukraine, the most common being:
– campaigning at the polling stations and outside them;
– delays in opening the polling stations;
– missing names of voters on Precinct Election Commission (PEC) voters’ lists;
– confusion in the work of Precinct Election Commissions;
– inappropriately sealed ballot boxes;
– distribution of ballots without the appropriate documentation;
– obstacles to the work of observers and mass media.
In addition, two UWC observers, from Canada and Moldova, were blocked at polling station №480752 in the city of Mykolayiv, and together with the PEC members and the candidates’ observers, they held back a group of individuals with athletic appearances who were trying to storm the premises.
In total, the UWC Mission monitored the vote in over 1700 electoral districts in 39 Ukrainian cities.
The UWC Mission highlights that in cities where mayoralty races were being run concurrently with the Presidential Election, including the cities of Kyiv, Mykolayiv, Kherson, Odesa, Cherkasy and Sumy, the voting process was considerably slower and long lines were experienced resulting in extended hours in some polling stations. Higher incidents of infractions were observed in cities where mayors and municipal representatives were being elected as opposed to cities in which there was only a presidential vote, however, these infractions had no material impact on the results of the vote.
The UWC Mission is the third largest international election observation mission to the 2014 early Presidential Election. The Mission includes 236 observers from 22 countries who are monitoring the vote in Ukraine and at diplomatic missions in the diaspora. The UWC Mission is headed by United States Federal Judge Bohdan Futey and the Chief Observer is UWC Third Vice President Peter Sztyk.
UWC observers will remain in the electoral districts until such time that they close and all votes are counted.
On 26 May 2014 at 9:30 the UWC Mission will hold a press conference at the UNIAN Information Agency to announce the results of its observations while monitoring the Presidential Election in Ukraine.
Contact information in Kyiv:
Oleksiy Zakharchenko
6 Muzeinyi provulok, Room 106
Kyiv, Ukraine
Tel: +38(097) 5102303
E-mail: [email protected]
