Ukraine's biggest network of domestic observers OPORA discovered that election authorities tampered with voter lists on Election Day. Some voters appeared on the list, while others were crossed out despite a legal restriction to change the lists on voting day, except in individual cases and by court order. The deadline for corrections into voter lists was on Oct. 25, or three days before election.
Nevertheless, by analyzing data on the Central Election Commission website, http://www.cvk.gov.ua/, OPORA activists found that at some polling stations the number of voters grew by nearly 2,000 people on election day.
“In some precincts of Ukraine, the difference between the number of voters at the beginning (8 a.m.) and the end (8 p.m.) of voting, changed within the range of 1,000 to 2,000 people,” the network’s statement says. “Moreover, these numbers do not coincide with those marked in protocols with vote results in each PEC [precinct election commission].”
This numbers are large enough to potentially have made a difference in some of the races. For example, in constituency 99 in Kirovohrad region, where tampering with voter list was discovered, the difference between the final winner from the opposition and the second runner-up from the ruling Party of Regions is just 2,225 votes. In some tight races the difference can be even smaller, just several hundred votes.
OPORA also discovered that in some precincts voters disappeared from lists on election day. A total of 11,827 people were gone from the official document in a span of 12 hours. OPORA has sent an inquiry to the Central Election Commission about the incidents of alleged violations, but is yet to receive a reply.
OPORA is a civic group that had the largest network of election observers deployed across the country on election day – 3,500 activists. It ran a parallel vote count as well as recorded violations of the election process and vote tallying.
Kyiv Post editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected].
