There are 15 candidates participating in the race, and only 7 of them are actively campaigning. Although the election process in Kryvyi Rih is organized in line with the Law, OPORA's observers detected some violations of campaigning rules, hazarding the equal opportunities for the candidates and transparency of campaign expenses.
In general, Civil Network OPORA denotes that the process of nomination and registration of candidates in early mayoral election in Kryvyi Rih was legitimate and conflict-free. Only 5 of 15 political parties, which had timely taken a decision on participation in early election, have nominated candidates (Samopomich Union, Ukrainian Union of Patriots – UKROP, Narodnyi Kontrol Civic Movement political party, Serhii Kaplin's Party of Simple People, and Syla Liudei). 17 candidates submitted registration documents to Kryvyi Rih City Election Commission. The Commission registered 15 of them and rejected 2 within the legislative time constraints. There were no acute conflicts or politically motivated decisions noticed in Kryvyi Rih City Election Commission during the registration of candidates.
Thus, 15 candidates participate in the early mayoral race in Kryvyi Rih, and 10 of them were nominated independently. 11 candidates are men and 4 – women. 8 mayoral candidates are unaffiliated. There were more candidates participating in 25 October 2016 regular local elections – 21 persons. Besides that, local cells of Petro Poroshenko Bloc 'Solidarity', AUU Batkivshchyna, Nash Krai, Opposition Bloc, Radical Party of Oleh Liashko, Party of Afghanistan War Veterans, and Revival party, which participated in 2015 mayoral election in Kryvyi Rih, haven't nominated any candidates.
OPORA has noticed that campaigning became more active after the candidates were officially registered. However, only 7 candidates are campaigning on a daily basis: Yurii Vilkul (self-nominated), Oleh Boichenko (self-nominated), Inna Ivanchenko (self-nominated), Mykola Kolesnyk (Ukrainian Union of Patriots – UKROP), Ihor Levytskyi (Narodnyi Kontrol Civic Movement), Semen Semenchenko (Samopomich Union), and Svitlana Sova (Syla Liudei). As for violations of electoral legislation, they usually concerned campaigning rules: placement of campaign materials in forbidden places, and dissemination of printed campaign materials without an imprint, publication of unsubstantiated opinion polls in online media, unbalanced and biased coverage of the election process by local media, and participation of public officials in campaigning efforts.
“Citizens of Kryvyi Rih have wide range of candidates to vote for, and candidates can freely campaign using various forms of advertising. However, competitiveness of the election process is hazarded by the fact that current Mayor Yurii Vilkul mixes his official duties and campaign efforts, – stated OPORA's analyst Oleksandr Kliuzhev. – Thus, OPORA calls on him to take a leave for the whole period of the election process.”
OPORA's observers haven't detected any existing or potential obstacles for voter engagement and campaigning in various forms. “The only exception is unbalanced coverage of the campaign by municipal mass media. Thus, reforming of this sector becomes even more topical”, – stated Olha Aivazovska, Electoral and Parliamentary Programs Coordinator at Civil Network OPORA.
Kryvyi Rih City Election Commission is also functioning in accordance with the law. The Commission timely responds to possible violations of electoral legislation. Besides that, it has focused on consideration of complaints from candidates and official observers, and on cancellation of decisions taken by city district election commissions.
In addition to the City Election Commission, there are 7 district city election commissions and 293 precinct election commissions. OPORA didn't notice any violations in nomination of PEC members, besides Ternivskyi District Election Commission in Kryvyi Rih, which Head obstructed to observation of the process. 22% of appointed PEC members were nominated by heads of district city election commissions, as long as candidates and local cells of political parties didn't nominate enough candidates to create the corresponding commissions with minimal membership, As a result, the Opposition Bloc party received the highest number of representatives in PECs – 150. In particular, local cell of the abovementioned party has 60 representatives holding positions of PEC heads, 40 deputy heads and 50 secretaries.
In general, the conditions for observation in Kryvyi Rih are favorable, except for some incidents.
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Reference: Civil Network OPORA conducts citizen observation of early mayoral election in Kryvyi Rih, scheduled for 27 March 2016. 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. A team of 5 observers have been working in the city since 6 February, and a group of short-term observers will join them on the election day to cover the third part of election precincts in Kryvyi Rih.