As Ukrainians went to the polls today to vote in the country’s parliamentary election, they also took to the social media site Twitter to report violations, attempted fraud, a flash mob and write-in votes for an adult film star.
Most users used the hashtags #вибори2012 and #UkraineVotes when tweeting about election incidents, including Maidan.org.ua (@sitemaidan), a nongovernmental organization which calls itself the “pulse of non-violent civic resistance of Ukraine.”
Maidan was the go-to account for up-to-the-minute reports on election violations. And it was first to report on the temporary closing of polling stations in Odessa, due to some magic markers.
“Violation: 3 voting stations in Odessa report that regular pens were replaced with dissapearing ink [sic],” it reported on Twitter. By evening the organization had posted further news about the pens. “Update: invisible ink pens have been found in 49 of the 86 polling stations in the Kiev district of Odessa. See a video with these pens in a previous tweet.”
But Maidan wasn’t the only user tweeting accusations of violations. Citizens and foreign observers also took to the social network to voice their concern.
“Officially observing the elections in #Ukraine today. Reports of violations are flooding in,” tweeted Stephan Bociukiw, who, according to his profile, is an intern at Kyiv’s E2market.com.
Twitter users also reported cyber attacks on watchdog websites Maidan, OPORA and Electua, as well as numerous news sites, including many in the Crimean cities of Evpatoria, Feodosia, Dzhankoy and Sevastopol.
The big surprise of the election, voiced by many online, could turn out to be just how well the Svodoba (Freedom) did. “Svoboda is big surprise just 12,3% days ago people wonder if they would break the 5% barrier,” @JustHovensGrove tweeted, a sentiment supported by The Associated Press, which reported exit poll numbers looking good for opposition parties.
One tweet that made the rounds on the social media site included a link to a YouTube video of a flash mob at a polling station in the city of Turka in Lvivska Oblast, where people involved held signs up to a camera that read “Slaves are not allowed in heaven.”
Another popular YouTube video from today that spread across the Twitterverse was of a person in a panda suit voting at a Pechersk district polling station in Kyiv. User @VikAtos posed the question, “Panda already voted for your freedom, did you?”
In the southern city of Kherson, @AlexSimonchuk captured a photo that showed at least one voter got creative in the ballot box, writing in the name of popular American adult film star Sasha Grey.
As the results come in, with numbers looking good for the opposition parties, one indication as to why might be the youth turnout, which some feared going into today could be low.
But many online expressed joy in being able to partake in the election, like @Yarumil, who enthusiastically tweeted “I just voted for the first time!”
Chris Miller is a Kyiv Post freelance writer.
