Ukraine’s two principal election auditors, OPORA and the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, each stated that the May 25 presidential election took place in accordance with legislation and met internationally accepted standards at two separate news conferences at UNIAN news agency.
Despite violations that were described as being “insignificant,”
OPORA head Olga Aivazovska said that the presidential election “reflected the
will of voters.”
The most significant violations were various forms of “illegal
campaigning” and “attacks, intimidation of and threats toward election
officials in Luhansk and Donetsk Oblasts by armed terrorists,” added
Aivazovska.
The group’s parallel vote count conducted by 1,500
short-term observers found that Petro Poroshenko had won by 53.4 percent. It had
a 2.9 percent margin of error.
CVU head Oleksandr Chernenko noted that election violations
of the past – carousel voting, ballot stuffing, dubious judicial rulings – were
absent in this election.
“I hope that the next time, the biggest problem will just be
long lines which, although problematic, mean there was a high voter turnout,”
said Chernenko.
He added that there was a third fewer election officials
employed than in previous elections.
“There are no legal, political or even moral grounds not to
recognize the (May 25 presidential) election as legitimate,” concluded
Chernenko. “This should in the future become the rule, not the exception.”
Kyiv Post editor Mark
Rachkevych can be reached at [email protected].
