OSCE observer mission declares election “high quality”

The international observer mission led by the OSCE said in a press release issued yesterday that the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election was of high quality and showed significant progress over previous elections. The mission concluded that it met most OSCE and Council of Europe commitments. The Canada-Ukraine Foundation observer mission report, also released yesterday, asserted that the elections met international standards for free and fair elections. Brad Wells: The glowing reviews by the OSCE and CUF highlight the democratic strides made by Ukraine since the Orange Revolution. Following Sunday’s poll, major politicians likewise touted the triumph of the Ukrainian voter – while simultaneously accusing each other of abusing administrative resources and other fraud. Official results, which put the sitting prime minister and president in second place and fifth place, respectively – and the opposition leader in first – are evidence to the contrary. As we wrote yesterday, we believe the risk of serious legal challenges to the first round results to be low. We do, on the other hand, see a greater temptation for voting manipulation in the second round and legal challenges, due to the expected close nature of the race between Viktor Yanukovych and Yulia Tymoshenko. The OSCE said it would send the same amount of observers to monitor that election.