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Election as a source of profit.

13.12.2002   
Bogdan Bondarenko, Students’ brotherhood of the Lugansk oblast.
The story about how the heads of district election commissions in the town of Rubezhnoye swindled with the money they had to pay to the commissions members.
I will tell about some combinations around the election at the example of town Rubezhnoye. The described combinations were not so evident for public, since they were directed against members of the district election commissions. The matter concerns the wages, which the state had to pay to the political parties activists, who participated in the election as members of election commissions.

Rubezhnoye is a small industrial town with the population about 70 thousand people. The town was created around the chemical plant „BARVNIK“ and developed owing to it. Now the plant nearly does not work (except several specially invested workshops) and, in fact, went bankrupt. So, the level of unemployment in Rubezhnoye is very high, and there are many high-qualified engineers, who agree to work for getting tiny salaries. That is why there appeared more than enough people willing to become members of election commissions.

The lists of voters included people, some of whom had died five or even 10 years ago. At the seminar for heads and secretaries of district election commissions hold in the town executive commission, Mr. Nazarenko, then a member of the political party „Trudova Ukraina“ and the secretary of the town council, insisted that there was no need to check the lists of voters“. A secretary of an election station was surprised: „What are these lists? Who compiled them? They are brim-full of people, who died long ago!“ Mr. Nazarenko interrupted the fighter for truth and made him silent. As he explained later, the election in Rubezhnoye is a local affair, so nothing may be said about it in presence of the administration of the regional election commission from Severodonetsk. The result was expected: up to 10% of „dead voters“ were later stroke off the lists at district stations. For example, at station No. 57-112 from the 2100 voters contained in the list about 200 were excluded because they had died, many others – because they moved to Russia and other places.

Now let us return to the wages of the members of the district election stations. The wages had to be formed from the fee for the work (20 UAH) and the bonus. The fee was paid by half, since 10 UAH were collected for feeding on the election day, but the bonus was not paid at all almost everywhere.

Before the election the heads of the district election commissions got the norms for paying bonuses – 480 UAH per a commission. After the election the heads of the district election commissions got in regional commission No. 112 the money and corresponding documents. Half an hour later they returned the signed documents. The administration of the regional commission was surprised, but they explained that they managed to pay the money in 30 minutes (the distance between Rubezhnoye and Severodonetsk is about 15 kilometers). The results of this affair were the following.

L. Serdeshna, the head of district commission No. 57-112, gave 15 UAH each only to those members, who knew about the bonus, and 15 UAH to the secretary. The fact that she gave 5.65 UAH less to the members and 0.65 UAH less to the secretary she motivated so: „If I did not visit the regional commission each day, you would get nothing“.

The head of district commission No. 71-112 avoided the members of his commission; those, who found him, got 10 UAH each, others got nothing. The motivation was that a flag disappeared from the election station.

The head of district commission No. 74-112 got the money earlier than his colleagues (on 14 April 2002) and for almost two weeks hide in Severodonetsk being registered in Rubezhnoye. On 26 April a member of the election commission, whose brother was an advocate, gathered other members of the commission and promised to initiate criminal investigation. Then the head appeared and paid 14 UAH to each (less than he had to). The shortage was explained by his transport expenses during the election.

The head of district commission No. 73-112 did not pay the money to one commission member, since she „was not included in the list for the bonus“. Yet, when this member refused to participate in the repeated election hold after a court decision, she was immediately included into this list.

The head of district commission No. 56-112 paid the members 3 UAH each and told that „according to law, he must not pay more“.

And the head of the district commission situated in school No. 7 in Rubezhnoye, as far as we know, paid no money at all.

But these are not all affairs. Some candidates to the town council handed claims and the court ruled to conduct the repeated election at district election stations Nos. 56, 73 and 74. The members of these commissions were promised to be paid for this as early as on 13 April, but they got nothing up to now. The accountant of the town executive committee informed: „The first sitting of the town council is organized for appointments and handing certificates. And only the second sitting may approve the budget for paying the repeated election“. Yes, they may approve, and if not?

It must be added that the town council officials made the administration of district commissions Nos. 73-112 and 74-112 to alter (to fake?) the paying documents from 24 to 17 work hours, thus changing the promised fees per commission member to 13 UAH. The head of commission No. 56-112 refused to fake the documents. Thus, everyone demonstrated one’s own legal illiteracy.

Most of the commissions members say, that they might forget this tricks of the authorities long ago, because the power and state more than once cheated them for larger sums. Yet, now the recalculation of subsidies for living accommodation is held, which takes into account the money obtained (to be more exact, partly obtained or not obtained at all) for the work during election. Thus, the members of the election commissions will have to pay from their own pockets for the swindles of the officials.

Those, who worked in the election commissions at this election will never agree to do it for another time in contrast to those, who cheated them.
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