In August and early September, OPORA's observers recorded cases of early campaigning and monitored the formation and functioning of territorial election commissions and electoral districts. Nataliia Vysikanets, the Observation Coordinator at Civil Network OPORA, and Olena Rohova, the Electoral Rights Ombudsman in Chernihiv oblast, told about observation results on 11 September press-conference.
"Based on the calendar plan, 22 territorial election commissions in Chernihiv oblast were formed by September 5, including 16 city, 5 raion and one oblast territorial election commission. All TECs were established within the time constraints and in line with electoral legislation. There are no problems in their functioning", - Nataliia Vysikanets said.
Representatives of the Servant of the People party received the biggest number of management positions. The following parties have the biggest number of TEC heads: Servant of the People - 54.55%, AUU Batkivshchyna - 13.62%, Solidarity of Women of Ukraine, and Opposition Platform - For Life - 9.09%. Parties, represented the most by deputy heads are as follows: Holos - 26.07%; Opposition Platform - For Life and the AUU Batkivshchyna - 13.04%; Servant of the People, Ridnyi Dim, European Solidarity and Radical Party of Oleh Liashko - 8.70%. The following parties have the biggest number of secretaries in TECs: Opposition Platform - For Life - 27.26%; Holos, For the Future - 18.18%; Servant of the People, Solidarity of Women of Ukraine - 9.09% of the total number of representatives in the management of commissions.
TECs in the oblast have had 89 substitutions from 33 parties since the beginning of their formation and until now. In most cases subjects, which submitted documents for inclusion in commissions, filed appeals for the substitution of these commission members. Substitutions took place in all 22 TECs, formed by the Central Election Commission. The following parties changed their representatives the most often: European Solidarity (10 substitutions); Servant of the People (8 substitutions); Holos, Successful Ukraine, Party of Sharii, Motherland Defenders, and All-Ukrainian People's Union (5 substitutions).
Besides that, until August 20, district organizations of political parties or in their absence in the structure of the respective political party - the regional organization of this political party, had the opportunity to submit to the district election commission nominations for village, settlement election commissions in the district and up to 25 August commissions were to be formed, which took place on time and without violations. There were 24 settlement and 17 village election commissions established. Parties AUU Batkivshchyna and the Solidarity of Women of Ukraine received the biggest number of TEC heads, AUU Batkivshchyna - deputy heads, and European Solidarity - secretaries.
All territorial election commissions of Chernihiv oblast formed election districts on September 5-6, in line with the law. OPORA's observers haven't noticed any violations during the formation of districts. Thus, the Chernihiv Oblast Territorial Election Commission formed 7 election districts, and the Chernihiv City TEC - 5. Regarding district TECs, the Chernihiv Raion TEC formed 7 election districts, the Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion TEC - 5, the Nizhyn Raion TEC - 6, and the Pryluky Raion - 6. Nomination and registration of parties and candidates to local councils is the next stage of the election campaign, which will take place on September 15-24.
OPORA's observers in Chernihiv oblast have noticed activities of 7 political parties containing features of early campaigning, i.e. billboards and public events. These parties are: Ridnyi Dim, Nash Krai, European Solidarity, Opposition Platform - For Life, For the Future, Victory of Palchevskyi, and Syla i Chest.
Political outdoor advertising became the most popular type of early campaigning. OPORA's observers noticed political advertisements of the following parties on billboards of Chernihiv oblast: European Solidarity, Servant of the People, Victory of Palchevskyi, Ridnyi Dim, For the Future and AUU Batkivshchyna. Another popular form of early campaigning was direct voter engagement involving "pre-election charity" events. In particular, observers noticed such events in different raions of the oblast, branded by the Ridnyi Dim and the For the Future. Potential party candidates have also used such active forms of political advertising or personal promotion. Representatives of the Ridnyi Dim party held public events in the cities of Nizhyn, Pryluky, Snovsk, Ripky and Chernihiv. On such events, they presented themselves, disseminated information posters with party labels and provided entertainments for children and adults. Representatives of the For the Future party offer to join the energy efficiency program to obtain energy efficient lamps, and to sign an agreement under this program as a result. All the other political forces use only political advertising so far.
Olena Rohova informed about the results of the national polling place accessibility monitoring. Thus, accessibility of polling places and premises in Chernihiv oblast is quite low. 13 of 19 inspected polls are inaccessible and 6 have bad access for low mobility population groups. In most polls lack ramps and stair markings with light-reflecting systems. If there is a ramp, it is non-standard - the angle of inclination is more than 8 degrees and there are no two-level handrails on a height of 70 and 90 centimeters. We should mention that the most problematic polling stations are located in rural areas (local schools and culture centers). Moreover, two of three special precincts, located in health care institutions are inaccessible - Pryluky Central City Hospital and Chernihiv Central Raion Hospital.
During the press conference, OPORA's representatives presented the Code of Conduct for Public Officials During an Election Process and called on the head of oblast center and officials at executive bodies to sign it.
For comment, please contact:
Nataliia Vysikanets,Election Observation Coordinator at Civil Network OPORA in Chernihiv oblast
tel .: +380937656931
e-mail: [email protected]
Reference: OPORA's observation is aimed to provide impartial assessment of election administration and process, facilitate free and fair election, and prevent violations. Civil Network OPORA has been realizing a wide-scale observation of regular local elections, to be held on October 25. We have deployed 188 observers nationwide, and short-term observers will join them on the Election Day. OPORA also monitors the use of budget resources for indirect campaigning, and civic ombudsmen inspect polling premises in terms of accessibility, as well as protect voting rights of citizens.