Local elections on 30 November had record low turnout, but no major infringements

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine [CVU] reports no significant infringements which could have influenced the results of the local elections on 30 November.  These elections took place in 138 places, including the following cities: Rivne; Feodosia (the Crimea); Mukachevo [Transcarpathian region); Tsyurupynsk (Kherson region) and Kreminna (Luhansk region). CVU had observers during the voting and vote count in the large cities and in some settlements.

It considers that in the majority of cities the elections passed without any particular problems which could have had an impact on the results. It notes the poor organization of the electoral process much of this being due to the late financing of the elections. “As always there was a problem with the quality of the voter lists. The number of inaccuracies in large cities is traditionally no less than 5%. For example, in Rivne at polling station No. 47 for the third election in a row made a written complaint that a person is registered at his address who has not lived there for a long time, while in Tsyurupynsk National Deputy Anatoly Zhuravko did not find his name on the list.

At the same time, CVU is concerned over the fairly low turnout in these elections. It was largest in Rivne (over 40%) but on average did not exceed 30%.

CVU also recorded isolated infringements which may not have influenced the results of the elections do however reflect negative trends as regards the democratic nature of elections in Ukraine. For example, in Rivne CVU observers were not allowed to observe the vote count at polling station NO. 95. In Kreminna there was a very large percentage of people voting “from home”. Applications for such voting were printed centrally and in some cases did not contain the voter’s signature.