Interfax: Just minor violations uncovered in Ukraine elections – observers

MOSCOW/KYIV. May 25 (Interfax) – International observers monitoring the Ukrainian presidential elections, among them Russian, said the violations uncovered were few and not serious.

“The most common violation we have noticed is that reports about the number of received ballot papers were not entered on some of the election commission’s reports before the start of the voting. Three observers had problems getting information from the election commissions,” Mikhail Maglov, the press coordinator for the European Platform for Democratic Elections (EPDE), told Interfax.

In six instances, campaign posters were located nearer to the polling stations than the permissible 50 meters. In another incident, an election commission chairman did not demonstrate empty ballot boxes before the voting began.

“In four instances, the procedure of filling control sheets, dropped into ballot boxes before sealing, was violated. Reports arrived claiming that election monitors were not allowed to video-film the voting procedure. But the problem was fixed after the monitors and representatives of the election commission jointly checked the election law,” Maglov said.

Leader of the Golos movement Roman Udod, who is among the Russian monitors on the EPDE mission, said that the elections were proceeding peacefully and in compliance with the law.

“In view of the problems that arose in the Central Election Commission, just about 200 of the initially planned 800 international monitors remained on duty, but all of them are doing their job well and nobody is obstructing their work,” Udod said.

He said very few violations were uncovered, and most of them were not serious. “Underfinancing is a huge problem. There are few members on election commissions, therefore long lines of voters formed,” he said.