Falsification scheme uncovered ahead of Sunday local elections

Political operatives in Ukraine are actively engaged
in a vote falsification scheme that involves inflating voter registers in
targeted districts, according to a National Police investigation conducted in
three regions. This is done by submitting statements of change of address –
both with and without the knowledge of the voters themselves – resulting in as
many as 300 names being registered to a single address, the National Police
reported on its website on Oct. 22. In the cases in which the voters were not
aware, their signatures for electronic statements were forged. In another
scheme, a university dean offered payments to students who changed their
address, which was done on the university property. The investigation was
conducted in the Odesa, Ternopil and Zhytomyr regions.

Two violent incidents were reported in the last days
of campaigning in the local elections to be held on Oct. 25. The night of Oct.
21, an arson fire was set to the automobile of Serhiy Koba, a candidate for the
Kharkiv regional council from the European Solidarity party. No one was
injured, but Koba received threats throughout the campaign, the party said. On
Oct. 21, a candidate for a town council in the Odesa region, was targeted with
an explosive device that detonated in his vehicle near a gasoline station.

Zenon Zawada: Several
conclusions can already be drawn about Sunday’s vote: (1) Despite the reported
violations, they will be determined to have been conducted freely and fairly,
in line with international standards. (2) The mayors of Ukraine’s four largest
cities will win re-election. (3) The pro-Putin Opposition Platform For Life
will gain influential factions, if not the largest, in the most of the
council’s of Ukraine’s ten largest cities (with the exception of Kyiv and
Lviv). (4) Billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky will retain his influence in Ukrainian
politics with three of the five largest parties having some loyalty to him. (5)
The European Solidarity party will collect the overwhelming majority of the
pro-Western vote.

The big questions that remain are: (1) To what
extent has the pro-presidential party The People’s Servant party lost its
support in the year since Zelensky’s election? (2) To what extent will
falsifications occur? (3) How many local councils will the pro-Putin Opposition
Platform For Life party control? (4) Will Zelensky’s national poll be organized adequately enough for its results to
be taken seriously?