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Vote count shenanigans: procrastination, Berkut riot police, battles

02.11.2012    source: www.bbc.co.uk
CVU Head Oleksandr Chernenko says that if the elections themselves, although problematical, passed on the whole peacefully, the vote count has “wiped out all positive features of these elections”.

The Committee of Voters of Ukraine [CVU] is adamant that the authorities must exert influence on the vote-counting situation in “problematical” electoral constituencies and remind them that dragging out the process may be a sign of a criminal offence.

There has been virtually no progress in these electoral districts over the last 24 hours while the situation during the early hours of Friday morning became even more tense.

Reports are also coming in from other oblasts that in a number of districts which were not mentioned as being problematical after 28 October, the district electoral commissions [DEC] have decided on a recount in some of the polling stations.

The opposition parties call such plans a new technique of these elections and believe that during the repeat vote some of the ballot papers could be spoiled, or the final result would prove not in favour of the candidates put forward by the opposition.

CVU Head Oleksandr Chernenko says that if the elections themselves, although problematical, passed on the whole peacefully, the vote count has “wiped out all positive features of these elections”.

“What is going on at present in some DEC is beyond good and bad, and beyond the limits of commonsense. … The district electoral commissions which are deliberately dragging out the vote count are committing criminal offences and the authorities should deal with this”.

The most scandal-filled is the Kyiv Electoral District No. 223 (Shevchenkivsk District). However the ballot papers in No. 211 have also not been fully counted.

No. 223

The battle at 223 is between Viktor Pylypyshyn (independent) and Yury Levchenko from VO Svoboda.

With 82.17% of the papers processed, Pylypyshyn is supposedly ahead by 0.64%, however clearly the delay does not inspire trust in the results.  

There was a fight at the DEC yesterday evening when members of the DEC decided to send protocols from several polling stations back for a recount.

Svoboda’s leaders have asked the Central Election Commission to take on the powers of the DEC however the CEC says that it does not have the authority to do so, but says that it is watching over the situation with the vote count.  At the present moment Svoboda has asked the CEC to replace the head of the DEC.

No. 211

Less than 1.5% of the votes in No. 211 need counting. Serhiy Teryokhin from the United Opposition is more than 3.7% ahead of Party of the Regions candidate Ihor Lysov. However the latter has asked the court to recount the votes at 28 polling stations and the court has acceded.

It is also possible that votes will be recounted in other electoral districts.

No. 132 Pervomaisk  - Berkut riot police try to go off with protocols

After 100% of the votes had been counted and the CEC site had informed that Batkivshchyna (United Opposition) candidate Arkady Kornatsky had won, this changed, and the Deputy Governor and member of the Party of the Regions, Vitaly Travyanko was announced the winner. Representatives of the opposition candidate assert that they have evidence that the change occurred because votes of other candidates were counted as being for Travyanko.

The CEC official results now put Travyanko ahead by 232 votes.

UNIAN reports that during the night Berkut riot police helped staff to take out all the originals of the precinct electoral commissions’ protocols, however they were prevented from driving away with them by 5 KAMAZ (jeeps).  According to members of the Front for Change, a fight ensued, and there are injured.

Other problem districts

No. 65  Party of the Regions Petro Melnyk vs. United Opposition Vyacheslav Kutovy.  In fact, Melnyk has now fallen into third place, but there is clear procrastination in counting all the votes (as of Friday morning 93.25% had been counted).

No. 95

Viktor Romanyuk from Batkivshchyna is ahead by almost 5%, but Tetyana Zasukha from the Party of the Regions is fighting through the courts (see, for example, OPORA: Analogous cases, different court rulings

No. 90 (Bila Tserkva)

No. 197 (centre in Kaniv, Cherkasy oblast) – the slowest of all, however the situation has changed in favour of Batkivshchyna candidate Leonid Datsenko (against Bohdan Hubsky, who was a BYUT MP in 2007, but effectively changed sides).

and others

 

New information from a report by the BBC Ukrainian Service

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