Local elections held without reported mass violations

Elections to regional, city and community councils
were held in Ukraine on Oct. 25, without mass falsifications reported as of
this morning. The mayors of Ukraine’s seven-largest cities gained the most
votes, some of them exceeding the 50% threshold to get re-elected and avoid
runoffs. Voter turnout was 37%, compared to 46.6% in the 2015 local elections,
according to the Central Election Commission, which cited the COVID-19 pandemic
as a major source for the drop in turnout. One-fifth of registered voters said
they didn’t participate owing to health reasons, according to the Rating
sociological group. Among the reported violations were carousel voting schemes,
insufficient voting booths and ballot boxes. Mass violations of COVID-19 social
distancing and masks requirements were reported by the Chesno
election-observing organization. A handful of violent incidents were reported.

As for President Zelensky’s national poll, a third of
voters said they didn’t participate, according to the Rating Sociological
Group. Regarding the first question, 81% of those who responded said they
support life imprisonment for those guilty of corruption in large amounts.
About 45% of respondents said they support creating a free trade zone in the
Donbas region, about 95% support reducing the number of MPs to 300 (from 450
currently), about 70% support legalizing cannabis for medical use and 78%
support raising Ukraine’s security guarantees in the Budapest Memorandum. The
poll results among non-participants were similar, the survey said. About 55% of
polling stations had an interviewer present, including 78.7% in the southern
regions and 37.8% in the western regions, according to the Opora
election-monitoring group. Numerous observers and activists reported being able
to cast multiple ballots.

Zenon Zawada: As
expected, these elections will be declared free and fair by election observers,
and meeting international standards. Zelensky’s national poll was too poorly
organized to be taken seriously. It will be soon forgotten, given how few
participated overall and how easily multiple ballots could have been cast.
Numerous politicians, including Parliamentary Speaker Dmytro Razumkov,
advertised that they didn’t participate in the national poll in order to
distance themselves from it, as well as its potentially negative consequences.