Continuing to struggle with the harsh circumstances of the global economic crisis, some Ukrainians are hoping to squeeze economic benefit from the presidential election by selling their votes – even though it is against the law to do so.
During the 2004 presidential election, rank-and-file citizens lined up on Kyiv’s Independence Square to protest against corruption. Now, in 2010, they are lining up to sell their votes over the Internet, for prices ranging from $20 to $125.
Ads can be found on just about any website featuring a classified section, under the heading “Sell Your Vote.” The sites www.olx.com.ua, http://freemarket.ua , www.ukrmarket.net provide just a few examples of Internet venues for the sale of Ukrainian votes.
Offers are colored in terms such as “wholesale,” “cheap” or “bargain.” Some include e-mails, while others feature cell phone numbers.
“I am a patriot, but I really need the money. And I don’t believe any of the candidates,” said unemployed Lviv resident Yevhen, who wants to sell his vote over the Internet, but doesn’t want to be identified because of the illegality of his endeavor. Yevhen seeks at least $25 for his vote. “The price is based on my personal estimation of how much time and energy I will spend in order to vote.”
Ordinarily, Yevhen said he would vote “against al,” but instead he decided to give his support to the highest bidder.
Ukrainians’ willingness to commercialize their constitutional rights is telling of the population’s growing disillusionment with the broken promises of the 2004 Orange Revolution, according to Andiy Sheketa, a political analyst at the Kyiv-based Center for Political Science and Analysis.
“This disgraceful tendency to buy and sell votes is a logical consequence of the blackmail and administrative pressure that took place in 2004 and of today’s disappointment of Ukrainians with their politicians,” he said.
A poll conducted by Democratic Initiatives and Ukrainian Sociology Service on December 12-26 state that over 40 percent of Ukrainians believe that the results in the Jan. 17 election will be manipulated, and over 15 percent are sure the entire elections will be rigged.
Selling one’s votes is much more of a sure thing. The vote seller gets a small cash advance (around $5). Then on voting day, they are sent an SMS instructing them who to vote for. To prove they fulfilled the obligation, the vendor must photograph his completed ballot and redeem the evidence for the remainder of the sum.
But some vote vendors are already complaining about unfair practices on the part of the vote buyers. “You can sell your vote, but I would not recommend it,” Kyiv student Oleksandr said. For the 10 votes he collected from his friends, he only got $25 of the $45 he was promised. “They said: take it or leave it,” he said.
According to Ukrainian law, Oleksandr should have left it, or face criminal prosecution. “Any kind of falsification, either buying or selling votes, is subject to a three-year jail term,” said Oleksandr Solontai of the Institute of Political Education.
Solontai said, despite the criminal risk, vote-selling and other illegal electoral practices remain widespread because they increase results for one or another candidate.
“Unfortunately, some 20 percent of votes were falsified in 2008 during the Kyiv mayor elections. Because Ukraine’s legal machinery still works badly, this dirty technology will be used this year.” Solontai said.
Among the most likely profile of a vote seller is someone from a fringe voting group. “People from the same village, students, pensioners, prisoners and soldiers all fit into this category,” said Serhiy Taran, director of the International Democracy Institute.
“There are some Kyiv dormitories, for example, where signatures to vote for a candidate for money have already been collected. The last five years have proven that some 80 per cent of those who take the money really do vote for the candidate they were told to,” said Oleksandr Chernenko, the chief executive officer at the Ukrainian Voters Committee.
However, the poll conducted by the Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Ukrainian Sociology Service on show that Ukrainians are, in fact, reluctant to sell their votes for such small sums. Some 13 percent said they would agree to such an arrangement for at least $60.
Kyiv student Oleksandr and Chernenko said $25 would be the maximum that anyone would be offered for their votes. Sheketa said only about 3 percent of Ukrainians will be voting for candidates they were instructed to.
“It would be difficult to control the voting process and this small amount would matter only for minor candidates, just for their general public image,” Taran said.
Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Prymachyk can be reached at [email protected]
