Preliminary findings by OPORA of the Election Day

Olha Kotsyuruba, lawyer at OPORA, said that the percentage of cases of ballots being issued to voters using incorrect identification documents has increased from the previous election in 2014.

The secrecy of the ballot is also problematic in this election, with 2.2% of polling stations facing issues with filled in ballots being photographed by voters. “The response rate to this varies between election commissions. There should be a similar reaction to these cases as to cases of vote buying as photographing ballots could be part of a vote-buying incident”, said Kotsyuruba.

5.7% of polling stations have seen procedural violations, such as multiple voters entering the same voting booth, which may be explained by polling stations not being arranged properly and that voters have to vote beyond the boundaries of voting booths.

Serious incidents have been reported but not confirmed, such as the false alarm of an incendiary device being found in a polling station. This could lead to further delays of the vote.

 In Kyiv cases were reported where individuals had lists of voters and instructions for the Election Day to mobilize citizens to vote for certain candidates, which represents illegal canvassing on E-Day. The persons involved in this are now being questioned by the police.

In some cases the way in which ballots have been sealed has also raised questions regarding the validity of the vote.