Statement of the Civil Network OPORA on the results of the early elections of the Kharkiv mayor

The extraordinary elections of the Kharkiv mayor on October, 31 took place in a competitive environment, but they were accompanied by serious violations of the requirements of Ukrainian law and international standards for democratic elections. The most common violations on election day were the issuance of ballots without a passport, the demonstration by voters of the results of their vote, and attempts to photograph completed ballots. The election campaign was accompanied by a massive use of...

The Civil Network OPORA provided non-partisan observation over all stages of the election process during 2020’s first local elections under Ukraine’s new territorial administration system . This report is the result of the work of 164 long-term and 1,300 short-term observers of the organization who had received prior training and knowledge testing on Ukrainian electoral law and independent monitoring standards.

Restrictions on political competition, the use of administrative resources, and financial incentives for voters are the key risks that may affect the fairness of the early elections of Kharkiv Mayor on October 31, 2021.

On October 31, Kharkiv voters will put an end not only to the early mayoral elections but also to a long political history of the late Gennady Kernes. The newly elected mayor, whoever he is, will turn over the page of his predecessor and bring his own style of government to develop the city. On the eve of the election, the political (and not only) legacy of Gennady Kernes has not yet been divided up, and it will undoubtedly affect the specifics of the upcoming election. While some are tryi...

Civil Network OPORA analyzed how many deputies of Oblast and city councils managed to be re-elected in 2020.

During the 2020 local elections, territorial authorities of the National Police registered the total of 17,979 reports and complaints related to election process. The total of 1,297 criminal proceedings have been initiated, 728 proceedings have been closed, 116 cases were referred to court. Pre-trial investigation is underway for 416 criminal proceedings.

On 17 December 2020, mass media have started to publish information about the death of Kharkiv Mayor Hennadii Kernes. Thus, different collegial bodies must act in line with Ukrainian laws, i.e., identify the fact of death, terminate the mayor's authority, and call an early election. OPORA publishes a legal comment on the exhaustive list of actions that should lead to a new mayor's election.

After the 2015 regular local elections in Ukraine, OPORA conducted its investigation. The investigation revealed numerous cases when the incorrect distribution of seats or specific manipulations with the protocols influenced the number of distributed mandates in councils. Thus, OPORA had to visit archives throughout Ukraine to get copies of the original protocols. Having digitized and verified them, we noticed many breaches in the distribution of mandates.

On 6 December 2020, the second round of mayoral election took place in Kryvyi Rih. Kostiantyn Pavlov (Opposition Platform - For Life) competed with Dmytro Shevchyk (Servant of the People). According to the 25 October vote results, these candidates took the second and third places, respectively, while the candidate with the largest number of votes, Yurii Vilkul (The Vilkul Bloc "Ukrainian Perspective"), refused to run further.