Early election report claims abuse of admin resources

The European Network of Election Monitoring (ENEMO) released its first report on the parliamentary election campaign in Ukraine this week. Observers noted several instances of candidates abusing administrative resoruces, irregularities in the selection of electorial commissions and restrictions on independent media.

Brad Wells: ENEMO’s early report is the first independent assessment of the state of election preparations and unfortunately sets the stage for the organization and other observer missions to declare Ukraine’s vote to be undemocratic, which could further inflame Ukraine’s relations with the European Union and United States. We believe it is unlikely Ukrainian officials will take these claims seriously, though it has promised (and is certain to reiterate its intentions) to run a fair poll.