More than 30 thousand pieces of video surveillance systems were bought for 2012 parliamentary elections and installed in polling stations all over Ukraine. One piece of such surveillance system consisting of hardware and software costs 6,086 UAH. 200 million UAH was spent from the State Budget only on the equipment. The total cost of video surveillance campaign was almost one billion UAH. For almost two years, the equipment was stored away by local administrations. However, after numerous appeals of local administrations, the Central Election Commission allowed them to use these surveillance systems.
Thus, as of 9 July 2014, the Central Election Commission had passed a resolution and transferred 28,179 surveillance systems from its control to the control of oblast state administrations and Kyiv City State Administration. A week before, the CEC allowed State Voter Register maintenance bodies and administration bodies, as well as Kyiv City State Administrations, to use 1,957 surveillance systems for video recording and broadcasting.
The history of "surveillance cameras" or Wasted millions
Video surveillance campaign was pushed to the Verkhovna Rada by then-MP, member of the Party of Regions Vladyslav Zabarskyi, who drafted the bill On Ensuring Openness, Transparency and Democracy of Elections of People’s Deputies of Ukraine as of 28 October 2012, and on Making Amendments to the Law of Ukraine on the State Budget for 2012.
Civil Network OPORA had publicly stated that the abovementioned bill is an unsuccessful attempt to copy the foreign experience of securing the transparency and openness of the election processhttp://oporaua.org/news/1566-opora-ocinyly-zakonodavchi-novaciji-lpro-veb-kameryr-na-dilnycjah
Despite the negative opinion of the Central scientific expert office of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, MPs voted for the bill. The Cabinet of Ministers allocated almost a billion UAH for this doubtful campaign.
By the way, the installation of video surveillance cameras in polling stations before the elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in October was made by the very same company that provided services during the last Presidential Elections in Russia for 3.5 billion UAH, particularly Citronix information technologies in Ukraine PJSC.
After the elections, Electoral and Political Programs Coordinator at Civil Network OPORA Olha Aivazovska emphasized that these "cameras" are only the facade of democracy. http://oporaua.org/en/video/article/4015-olga-ajvazovska-qvideokamery-na-vyborah-ce-pryklad-qfasadnojiq-demokratijiq
In September 2013, the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine admitted that the video surveillance system, costing 955.3 million UAH for the State Budget, was ineffective. "955,3 million UAH was inefficiently spent on the creation and functioning of video surveillance system in polling stations during 2012 election campaign. According to the CEC, the gathered video materials were not used. Taking into consideration that the law doesn't provide usage of video surveillance during the future election campaigns, there is no decision on what to do with the system next," – the Accounting Chamber informed.
After 2012 elections, initiator of the costly video surveillance Vladyslav Zabarskyi promised that the equipment, specially installed for the voting day on parliamentary elections, could be used for 2015 Presidential elections.
However, wording of the Law secured its use only for the voting day on 28 October 2012. Thus, video surveillance campaign turned out to be for a single use. To use equipment during the next elections, the corresponding decisions and resolutions should be passed. In fact, all these cameras and equipment were totally forgotten. Equipment, which enlisted 32 thousands of surveillance units.
During the preparation or early Presidential elections on 25 May 2014, nobody mentioned about them either.
To be used for their intended purpose
OPORA wrote an information request to the Central Election Commission regarding the abovementioned surveillance systems.
In the answer to our request, the CEC explained that surveillance systems were procured by the Commission in a centralized way, one piece for every regular polling station. In total, the CEC bought 32,192 surveillance systems. One piece of such surveillance system consisting of hardware and software costs 6,086 UAH. This equipment was on balance of the CEC.
"According to the Procedure for using surveillance systems and equipment for video recording and broadcasting #1968, approved by the CEC on 19 November 2012, after use of surveillance systems, they should be stored by the Council of Ministers of the ARC, oblast state administrations, as well as Kyiv and Sevastopol Raion State Administrations, on the basis of agreements concluded with the CEC regarding their free storage.
These agreements, concluded between the CEC and OSA, OSA are responsible for keeping surveillance systems in their integrity and securing measures for their safety.
Taking into consideration the appeal of Kyiv City State Administration and oblast state administrations, the CEC considers the possibility to transfer surveillance systems from its control to the control of the abovementioned administrations.
Today, the Commission received the approval of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and the State Property Fund, and sent the corresponding appeal to the CMU for the final decision on this issue.
Besides that, according to the CEC resolution #118 of 28 March 2014, the Commission allowed Kherson OSA to use six video surveillance systems if the corresponding changes are made to the agreement on free safe storage of surveillance systems between the CEC and Kherson OSA."
On 23 June, the Central Election Commission agreed "to approve the use of video surveillance systems for video recording and broadcasting by State Voter Register maintenance bodies and administration bodies in Vinnytsya, Volyn, Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk, Zhytomvr, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, Kirovohrad, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Temopil, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytsk, Cherkasy, Chemivtsi, Chernihiv Oblast State Administrations, and Kyiv City State Administration in amount calculated after including additional terms of use to agreements on free safe storage of video surveillance systems
Answering the next inquiry, the CEC informed that State Voter Register maintenance bodies and administration bodies, as well as Kyiv City State Administrations, were allowed to use 1,957 surveillance systems for video recording and broadcasting by the very same Resolution.
Besides that, "as long as the Law of Ukraine on Ensuring Openness, Transparency and Democracy of Elections of People’s Deputies of Ukraine as of 28 October 2012 and other normative acts don't envisage the repeated use of video surveillance system during other elections or referendums in Ukraine; taking into consideration numerous appeals of oblast state administrations concerning the use of surveillance systems by regional administrative bodies; in order to secure efficient use of the state property; having received the approval of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Ukraine and the State Property Fund of Ukraine", the Central Election Commission passed a Resolution of 9 July 2014 to transfer 28,179 video surveillance systems from the control of the Commission to the control of Kyiv City State Administration.
According to the CEC, 19,443 video surveillance systems have been already provided to 19 oblast state administrations. Thus, oblast state administrations are entitled to administer the abovementioned property after the receipt and delivery report is signed.
Civil Network OPORA would like to emphasize that inventory of video surveillance systems should be transparent, and the public should control the transference and use of equipment.
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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 electoral violations through comprehensive civic action.