Civil society organisation OPORA and Committee of Voters of Ukraine have concluded that the early parliamentary elections in Ukraine did not violate international standards and Ukrainian law in any serious way. Although a large number of violations were registered both during the election campaign and on election day, they did not influence the result of the elections.
The results of observations were presented at a press conference co-organised by local observers and European Platform for Democratic Elections. The Norwegian Helsinki Committee represented the Platform in Kyiv.
OPORA and CVU had almost 6000 observers out at polling stations yesterday, and although violations were registered, these were mostly of a technical character, due to lacking experience and training of election commission staff. Many mistakes were related to identification of voters and filling in of protocols both during voting and during the counting.
According to parallel vote tabulation, the final voter turnout is 51.2%. The figure is lower than in previous years, but not critical, the observers said. There are several reasons for the lower turnout; one is the difficulty and inability of citizens in Donetsk and Luhansk regions to vote. We also need to be aware of the fact that previous turnout figures may have been inflated.