The pensioner residing in Shevchenkivskyi Raion of the city of Chernivtsi got a phone call from the local housing department on his birthday. He was congratulated on the occasion and offered to come to the housing department to receive a “nice gift”. There, he was presented with a grocery package and a greeting card from the candidate for Deputy in the electoral district 201 of the Party of Regions Vitalii Mykhailishyn. Also, the pensioner was invited to attend the opening of a playground.

The leaflet was printed by a printing company, and name and surname of the birthday person was handwritten. The package didn't have the logo of the party or the candidate, and contained the following — oil 1 l, buckwheat 1 kg, sugar 1 kg, flour 1 kg, horilka 0.5 l, cookies, sweets, tea, and rice 1 kg.

The contents of the package was video recorded by the relative of the retired man — 

Let us remind that Section 13, Article 74 of the Law On Election of People's Deputies of Ukraine  defines the following as “indirect bribery of voters”, and therefore, the Law prohibits them.

The OPORA observer contacted Vitalii Mykhailishyn in the morning of 22 October asking to comment on this fact. Having promised to call back, as of 4pm, the candidate still hasn't called. If OPORA gets the comment of Vitalii Mykhailishyn, we will distribute it in a separate letter.

For comment, please contact:
Nazar Tymoshchuk,
Election Programmes Coordinator of the Civil Network OPORA in Chernivtsi Oblast
063 628 67 71, [email protected]
Press Secretary of Chernivtsi Branch of the Civil Network OPORA
Hryhorii Sorochan
063 628 67 72, [email protected]

Reference

Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing violations through comprehensive civic action. Professional monitoring at all stages of the election process indirectly influences the quality of the campaign. The public opinion, both foreign and domestic is formed through gathering and spreading of information among the target audience.  
From a strategic perspective public monitoring of elections focuses upon improving the system and certain procedures.  
In 2012, during Parliamentary elections in Ukraine OPORA is carrying out a large-scale campaign of long- and short term observation, organizing a statistical vote-count by the results of voting with the proportional component of the electoral system on a basis of representative selection, will provide 100% coverage of polling stations by observers in separate single-mandate majoritarian districts. OPORA observers will work in all 225 electoral districts, and 3,500 activists will join them on the voting day. Organization will use the latest means of spreading information on observation results, including infographics and interactive maps.