"THE SECOND ROUND OF UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS DID NOT MEET SOME STANDARDS", OSCE OBSERVATION M
Support A1+!The second round of the presidential election in Ukraine on 21 November did not meet a considerable number of OSCE commitments, Council of Europe and other European standards for democratic elections. As in the first round, state executive authorities and the Central Election Commission displayed a lack of will to conduct a genuine democratic election process, concluded the International Election Observation Mission in a preliminary statement released today.
Between the two rounds, the Mission reported cases of public sector employees and students being pressured to support the current Prime Minister, Mr. Viktor Yanukovich. Nevertheless, a vibrant civil society demonstrated once again a high level of interest and engagement. Despite serious shortcomings in the process the second round of the election offered voters a choice, although campaign conditions were not equal.
Observers noted more serious violations, including some isolated incidents of violence, and a pattern of intimidation, including directed towards observers, polling commission members and individual voters. In a significant number of polling stations, commission members had been dismissed. In some instances, unauthorized persons were interfering in or directing the process, or otherwise attempting to influence voters.
The observers' assessment of the ballot counting process was worse than on 31 October, including poorer overall organisation, and more questions were raised about the accuracy of results reported. Problems included lack of sufficient attention to ballot security and counting procedures. In almost 40 per cent of polling stations, unauthorized persons were present, including police and local government officials.
A final report will be released approximately six weeks after the completion of the electoral process.
