The results of the campaign of independent public observation of local elections in the Chernihiv region

On November 3, representatives of the Polissya Fund of International and Regional Studies at the Expert Club “Pure Policy” presented the results of the campaign of independent public observation of local elections in Chernihiv region. The monitoring campaign is being implemented by GM “OPORA” and is nationwide.

According to Yevgeny Romanenko, the coordinator of the observation program in the Chernihiv region, during October 31 – November 3, 2010 in the Chernihiv region, 50 observers of GM “Opora” were followed by the voting and vote count. 34 of them worked at district election commissions, 16 more tracked events in territorial commissions of different levels. Observations were conducted in Gorodiansky, Koryukiv, Kulikov, Minsk, Nizhyn, Nosovsky, Prylutsky, Chernihiv and Shchorsky districts, mm. Chernihiv, Nizhyn and Pryluky.
Observers have not found mass cases of violation of electoral legislation, pressure on voters or members of election commissions, and distorting the results of voting. In the vast majority of sites where the observation was conducted, the elections were calm and without significant violations.
Regarding specific facts, one case was recorded at the morning meeting of observers and members of the Chernihiv district election commission No. 255046. The Shchors City Territorial Election Commission began only late in the evening. In the village. Petrovka of the Shchors district of the PEC meeting at the polling station №22020 began not in the premises of the site, but in the village council, where the ballots were stored for voting. Cases of transportation of voters to the precinct (Petrovka village of Shchors district), issuance of ballots without presentation of a passport (Stari Rudnya village of Shchors district), lack of a candidate’s name in ballots (Shchors district) have been identified. The Chernihiv City TEC recorded a case where members of the district commission had with them a PEC seal.
Due to the large number of ballots issued to the voters, in the morning, almost all sites of the OPORA observers recorded significant queues. This, on the one hand, led to the refusal of some voters to participate in the vote, and on the other, violated the mystery of the vote, as people often filled the ballots outside the voting booths.
The large number of ballots and candidates for local self -government bodies, as well as organizational problems in the counting of votes, did not allow the results of the vote to be calculated promptly. At some sites of Chernihiv, where observers worked, the counting of votes ended after 12.00 Monday.
The observation campaign will continue to establish the results of voting.

Contacts of public surveillance campaign in Chernihiv region:
Romanenko Yevgeny, 66-11-27, e-mail: romanenko@pfirs.org,
Polissya Fund of International and Regional Research