West

(Zakarpatska, Volynska, Ivano-Frankivska, Chernivetska, Lvivska, Rivnenska, Khmelnytska, Ternopilska oblasts)

In Volynska oblast, there was no heat in many polling stations and many PEC members had difficult times fulfilling their duties.

In the morning before the voting started, district election commissioners, for example at DEC #19 and 20, had to bring additional ballots to several polling stations.

In the first half of the day, observers reported about the following minor violations:

At some polling stations of the Election District #19, election commissioners, while giving out the ballots, forgot to take away the control coupon or they wrote down their names on it instead of the voters;

At the PEC #13 of the Election District 22, all ballot boxes were not sealed from the very start of Election Day.  The commissioners` explaination was that having one sealed ballot box was enough. This is why they sealed only one and the rest of the boxes were hidden in another room.

At PEC #18, election commissioners received three extra ballots than they supposed to have according to the voter list for mobile voting, justifying that they had extra as the reserve.  At PEC #71, in the morning commissioners did not put a control sheet into the mobile box.

On Saturday, January 16 most of the PECs took a decision to include to the revised voter list, those voters who addressed the commission with such request to be added. Moreover, such inclusions were based on voter requests, and not on their complaints. The same happened on the Election Day, when commissions took a decision to include voters onto voter lists without having a break in the voting procedure, in presence of voters, based on voter requests but not complaints.  This was justified as having the CEC instruction. However, opinions of the District Election Commissions varied. For instance, DEC #22 and 23 recommended to their PECs to take decisions on including voters, at the same time DEC #21 stated that a PEC does not have such an authority.

At the Polling Station #9 of Election District 22, in one of the voting booths a voter made a sign on the table in support of the Candidate Serhiy Tigipko. At the Polling Station #217 of Election District 20, there was the electricity supply stoppage. The electricity support enterprise said it could not find a reason for the shut-down and there was a threat of having no electricity during the vote count.

At the Election District #19 - on the eve of the Election Day - the District Election Commission took a decision to include the internal affairs department staff members into the voter lists.

In Uzhgorod, Zakarpatska oblast, the communal service agencies did not take away all campaigning materials and posters.

At the Polling Station #72, a school director at the village Nankovo of Khoust rayon campaigned for the Candidate Volodymyr Lytvyn in front of the polling station. At one of the polling stations the PEC members tried to confiscate an ID from the official observers.

On the territory of the Polling Station #77 of Election District 73, Yanukovich`s supporters tried to distribute free alcohol while they campaigned.

At Election District 74, two citizens were detained on the Hungarian-Romanian-Ukrainian border. They crossed the border and had packages of ballots with them. According to their explanation, this group of people had to stuff ballots in the pre-border villages, where the majority of the Hungarian minorities reside.

In Ivano-Frankivska oblast, according to the international observers` report there was a fire at the Polling Station #104 of Election District 90.

At the Polling Station # 43 of Election District #88, forty-seven citizens were included into voters lists based solely on their passport information without the commission taking a decision.

At Election District #88, election commissioners included voters on the voters lists based on their requests and complaints, and after checking their passports.  Other DECs in this oblast suggested that PECs should direct these voters to the court.

In Rivnenska oblast, at the Polling Station #70 of Election District 154 in Rivne city, there was not enough ballot boxes and voting booths, which forced voters to stand in lines at the polling station.

At Election District 154 and 155, there were not enough ballots at the polling stations, because their number was calculated based on the voters list without anticipating the additions and revisions of the voters lists. DEC members had to bring ballots immediately to those polling stations, which did not have enough of them.

At the Polling Station #189 in the village Osnytsk of Rokytnynsky rayon, a voter dropped an empty piece of paper into the ballot box and tried to take away a ballot.  The violator was detained by the commissioners and a violation was recorded. Law enforcement were called to the polling station.

At the Polling Station #134 of Election District 158 in Sarny, the commissioner from Oleksandr Moroz, when receiving a ballot put a signature for herself and for another person. Another commissioner from the Candidate Liudmyla Souproun gave out two ballots to one person. The extra ballot was not cast. The observer from the Party of Regions detected the violation and wrote a violation act for it. The commissioners took a decision to remove these commissioners from fulfilling their duties until the situation was cleared out. Law enforcement bodies were informed of these facts.

In the village Berezove of Rokytnynsky rayon, representatives of Bloc of Yulia Tymoshenko gave voters a ride to the polling station.

On Friday, the orange colored bill-boards were posted in the oblast, depicting the head of Rivnenska oblast state administration Victor Matchouk calling for "Think... Choose the Ukrainian President".  Victor Matchouk initiated to place similar bill-boards with a motto "Yuschenko is the Ukrainian President".

 

East

(Luhanska, Kharkivska, Donetska oblast)

In Kharkivska oblast, at the Polling Station #85 of Election District 179, at there was no heat and lighting at the beginning of voting.  Before lunch, several small heaters were  brought to the polling station, but the temperature was no more than +2 degrees Celsius and only several electric sockets worked.

At the Polling Station #4 of Election District 170, a voter tried to take a ballot out of the polling station. The PEC head and secretary prevented her from doing so, and the voter then tore the ballot and said "I do not participate in this farce," threw the ballot and left the premisise.

In Luhanska oblast, at the Polling Station #5 of Election District 112, control sheets were lost, and new forms were immediately brought from the District Election Commission. The first meeting and opening of the polling station was delayed by 20 minutes. 

At the Polling Station #115 of Election District 108 in Luhansk National University (LNU) named after Taras Shevchenko, there was an incident when a voter took a picture of the ballot with a sign for Yulia Tymoshenko. This first-year student of the Institute of Psychology and Pedagogics of the University, said that she had been instructed in the dean`s office that this was not a violation. On January 18, she said she would have to show a picture how she voted. The Prosecutor`s office and the police will conduct an investigation.

Representatives of an unknown political force conducted a door to door tour in Krasnyi Louch, before the polling station was opened.

Local government representatives from the Party of Regions brought voters to the polling stations by saying they helped voters. For example, particular instructions were given by the Antratsyt city deputy mayor Oleksandr Laryn to transportation companies to allocate buses for bringing elderly people to polling station.  They brought the young people as well. These buses gathered at the city excutive committee office and then traveled to the polling stations. This was a sort of a bus to poll exercise.

Similar observations were recorded in Luhansk and in other cities of the oblast. For example, at the Polling Station #80 of Election District 106, a mini van brough a group of young people to vote. Also, a bus with a logo of the Party of Regions took a group of people to the Polling Station #73 of Election District 106.

In Luhansk city, representatives of the public movement "USSR" distributed campain materials against Victor Yanukovich, regardless of the ban to campaign on the Election Day. The police detained the campaigners and filed a protocol of administrative infringement of the law.

In Donetsk region in the polling station # 17 of the election district # 60, a commission member from the candidate Yulia Tymoshenko gave to voters around 30 ballots without signing those ballots and their control coupons. In the meantime, members of the precinct election commission # 42 of the election district # 45 gave ballots to voters who had not presented their ID-documents.

In the polling station # 90 of the election district # 51, OPORA observers recorded an incident when a control coupon without a stamp of the Central Election Commission on it was thrown into the portable ballot box, which was taken then by commission members for voting outside the polling station (home voting). After observers had commented it, the commission members returned to the polling station and took another ballot box for home voting.

In one polling station in Donetsk oblast, OPORA observers recorded conflicts with Georgian citizens, who attempted to get to polling stations with credentials of the Lugansk newspaper "Molodogvardeets". Police is investigating this case.

North

(Chernigivska, Zhytomyrska, Sumska, Kyivska oblasts and Kyiv City)

In Sumska oblast the polling stations voting was delayed due to the fact that just before the Election Day polling stations had ballots stamped with a sign "withdrawn" near the name of the candidate A. Grytsenko. District election commissions failed to deliver new ballots on time.

The Prosecutor of the Sumy oblast opened a criminal case over 8.5 thousand  damaged ballots by election commission members. These facts were revealed by law enforcement officers during the check of the stations in Burynsky, Putyvlsky, Ohtyrsky regions and Sumy City, especially: in the polling station # 2 of the election district # 159; in the polling station # 132 and 141 of the election district # 162; in the polling station # 175, 199 and 200 of the election district # 163; in the polling station # 26 of the election district # 164.

In the election district # 159 in Sumy City, at Pershotravneva Street, unknown persons offered to citizens 50 UAH for a copy of their passport in order to vote, they said.

Observers recorded incidents of door-to-door reminder to vote, which was conducted by the representatives of Yanukovych` headquarters.  Although not illegal because no candidate was mentioned, this type of campaign violates the spirit of the election silence period.

In the polling station # 86 of the election district # 159 in Sumy City, a voter attempted to throw two ballots into the box. As it turned out, the second ballot belonged to his relative who voted but left his ballot in the voting booth. The Sumy Psycho Neurological Clinic ran out of ballots at what time and were voters turned away. In the polling station # 1, located in the premises of the Oblast Consumer Association at 1 Troitska Street in Sumy City, observers recorded a voter list, where voters were marked depending on the candidate they plan to vote for.

In Chernigivska oblast during 15 -17 January a poster with a number "17" on a blue background was posted around the city. It was done by the representatives of Yanukovych headquarter (under # 17 in the ballot). Two campaigners were caught by police at night and confessed that they had been paid 200 UAH do perform this job.

In the polling station # 59 of the election district 208, commission members who organized voting outside the polling station came back with lost control coupons. Voters who found the missing coupons delivered them to a neighboring polling station.

In Kozeletsk election district in small town Desna, where many military men and soldiers are deployed, the district election commission mistakenly dispatched 500 ballots to a wrong polling station. Thus not everyone will be able to vote because of a high voter turnout.

The district election commission located in the district election # 208 adopted a decision to remove the chairman of the polling station # 33 because he refused to add voters to the voter list on the Election Day. Now his deputy carries out the duties.

In Kyivska oblast, notably in the polling station # 95 and 106 of the election district # 91 opened with delay due to the lack of quorum.

South

(Odeska, Mykolaivska, Khersonska, Zaporizka oblasts, the Autonomic Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol City)

In Zaporizka oblast in the polling station of the election district # 77 observers recorded attempts to carry away ballots from polling stations, which came out unsuccessful due to the vigilance of observers.

In the polling station # 61, observers from the Yatseniuk headquarters recorded an attempt to vote by citizens of the Russian Federation. This attempt was stopped by observers.

In Khersonska oblast the precinct election commission # 45 of the election district # 187 came close to running out of ballots (the commission received less ballots by 40 fewer ballots than there were voters on the list).

Some precinct election commissions in Mykolaivska oblast, notably in the election district # 134, had to work in a cold premises. Over long hours, many polling stations could not resolve the issue with providing fuel for the vehicles that should transport their commission members with documents to the district election commission.

The precinct election commission # 158 of the election district 132, stamped ballots with a sign "withdrawn" near the name of the candidate Kostenko just prior to Election Day.  This polling station had a long delay in opening.

 
Center

(Dnipropetrovska, Poltavska, Vinnytska, Cherkaska, Kirovogradska oblasts)

In Dnipropetrovska oblast observers recorded a long list of violations in the first half of the day. In the polling station  # 133 of the election district # 37 posters with candidates were placed at 7 am only, and in the polling station # 118 and 141 the number of ballots was lower than the number of voters.

The precinct election commission # 55 of the district election # 27 ran out of ballots at 12:00pm.  Roughly 200 voters could not vote in the Vinnytska Regional Psychiatric Hospital, as no ballots were left for them.

In the polling station # 24 of the election district # 26 before the voting started, there was no excerpt from the voter list for home voters, and in the polling station # 1 in the changed voter list appropriate marks were not placed near names of voters who vote outside the polling station.

In the polling station # 62 of the election district # 31 observers from O.Tiagnybok photographed voters when they filled out their ballots in the booth for secret ballot.

There was an incident recorded when a journalist, who is a reporter of "Tochka Opory", was prevented from performing his assignment. The chairman of the precinct polling station # 56 of the election district # 28 attempted to prevent the journalist from entering the polling station, demanding a wet stamp on the copy of the certificate of the print media.

In the election district # 18 one judge of the Kryzhopilsky Regional Administrative Court required citizens to submit a request written only by a qualified lawyer, whose services were estimated at 100 UAH. He rejected citizen claims, which had been written by regular voters. At 13:00 the head of this court notified the chairman of the precinct election commission # 58 of the election district 18 that these actions of the judge were wrong and voters could apply to the court.


Contact: Iryna Shvets - 063 628 68 40.