Repeated parliamentary elections are being held on December 15 in five single-mandate election districts - #94, 132, 194, 197, 223. The voting has started with no technical problems, which may negatively influence the overall voting process in the future. However, some minor cases of violating voting procedures by PECs’ members were still observed. Late opening of some of the polling stations was also revealed, although it did not prevent voters from exercising their right to vote.
Voting process runs from 8 am till 8 pm, no breaks.
There are 649 polling stations organized in five districts where voters can come and cast a ballot paper.
The biggest number of polling stations was created in the district #132 (with a center in Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv oblast) – 184; district #197 (with a center in Kaniv, Cherkasy oblast) – 146; district #94 (with a center in Obukhiv, Kyiv oblast) – 135; district #223 (with a center in Shevchenkivskyi rayon, Kyiv city) – 101. The smallest number of polling stations is organized in the district #194 (with a center in Cherkasy city) – 83 stations.
Precinct election commissions, not later than 45 minutes before the voting start, should hold their preparatory meetings. PECs carry out the following procedures: 1) check whether the safe with ballot papers is properly sealed; 2) ballot boxes are being sealed, a control paper indicating the time is casted into the boxes; 3) a number of ballots received by a PEC is announced; 4) a head of commission gives ballots to PEC members who will organize the voting process. OPORA’s observers attended the meetings and observed whether PECs members were following the procedures. Meetings of precinct election commissions, including the preparatory ones, are only legal when more than a half of members are present there.
According to text-reports sent by OPORA’s observers from five election districts, turn-out of the PEC members was satisfactory and all the meetings were considered as legal.
At some of the polling stations observers found minor problems with ballots storing. At 2% of stations in the district #223 ballots were not stored at safes (metal boxes) before the preparatory meetings. In the districts #94 and 194 such problems were observed at 1% of polling stations where OPORA’s observers were deployed.
A lack of ballot papers was also revealed at polling stations in several election districts. The biggest number of such cases was found in the district #94 – at 4% of stations. During the preparatory meetings it was also observed that the safes with ballots were not properly sealed, eg. at 3% of polling stations in the district #94.
A lack of protocol forms on vote count is another problems revealed by observers. The highest percentage is observed in the district #197 – 3% of polling stations lacked protocol forms there.
Some of the precinct election commissions did not manage to start voting process at 8 am. Such cases were revealed in all the election districts: in the district # 229 –15% of polling stations postponed the beginning of voting, # 94 – 11% of stations, #194 – 6 %, #197 – 3 %. Delays were mainly caused by technical problems, which were quickly solved.
