A series of European and American election observers have pronounced the first round of Ukraine’s 2019 presidential vote competitive and broadly free — albeit not without electoral violations.
At an April 1 press conference, observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE; the NATO parliament; the European Parliament and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe praised both the work of Ukrainian officials and the commitment of Ukrainian voters to democracy.
At a subsequent briefing, observers from the International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute expressed similar sentiments.
“What I observed was a free choice of free people. I saw the enthusiasm of Ukrainians of all ages participating in the election in impressive numbers,” said Michal Szczerba of Poland, head of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly delegation, which comprised of 266 delegates from 29 NATO member states.
“The competitive election has laid the groundwork for a vibrant second round,” said Ilkka Kanerva, special coordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission.
The monitors praised the broad efficacy of the Central Election Commission, the candidates’ abilities to campaign freely and the diversity of the media landscape. But they also drew attention to violations of campaign finance laws, superficial and often biased media coverage, and the presence of an alarming number of so-called “technical candidates,” whose true role is to campaign for another candidate or eat up public financing and media coverage.
According to a Ukrainian anti-corruption movement Chesno, almost half of 39 presidential candidates were spoiler candidates.
Difficult conditions
Dariusz Rosati of Poland, head of the European Parliament delegation, stressed the challenging context in which this election took place — the ongoing war with Russia, millions of internally displaced people, and a humanitarian crisis in the Donbas.
“It wasn’t flawless. Cases of vote-buying and misuse of administrative resources have been reported. The neutrality of high-profile officials was questioned. Media ownership reinforced biased coverage. No genuine debate among the candidates took place,” Rosati said.
American recommendations
In its briefing, the International Republican Institute recommended that Ukraine increase efforts to help internally displaced persons from Donbas and Crimea to exercise their right to vote. It also proposed debates among top candidates and clarifying what forms of campaigning are and are not allowed.
Despite this, the Institute evaluated the eleciton positively.
“I witnessed a thriving young democracy here in Ukraine,” said Cindy McCain, wife of the late U.S. Senator John McCain and one of the observers. “This election was a step forward for Ukraine’s democracy and I cannot tell you enough how happy my husband would have been if he could have just seen this.”
“Ukraine’s voters were generally able to express their will, exercise their right to vote in a calm and peaceful environment, despite the Kremlin’s efforts to portray these elections as illegitimate and not reflective of the will of the people,”said Daniel Twining, the International Republican Institute president.
The National Democratic Institute recommended that the Central Election Commission increase its transparency. It also suggested that the Verkhovna Rada pass a draft law increasing the penalties for electoral violations and called on the candidates and the media to refrain from spreading disinformation in an attempt to discredit other politicians.
It also recommended debates between candidates and more government efforts to prevent the usage of administrative resources.
“I think it’s impossible to measure exactly how (disinformation) affected voting, but what we can say for sure is that it impacted the confidence in the process,” said Laura Jewett, the National Democratic Institute’s regional director for Eurasia.
She stressed that, while some came from Russia, other disinformation was “domestically produced.”
Vote count continues
Election workers continued to count the ballots as of the early evening of April 1.
By 6 p.m., the Central Election Commission counted nearly 89 percent of vote. Comedic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy leads with 30.26 percent, followed by incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 16.01 percent. The latest voter turnout figure is 63.62 percent.
The runoff election will take place on April 21.
Earlier on April 1, Ukrainian election watchdog Opora also declared the first round of vote broadly competitive. Opora monitors said there had been fewer violations than in previous elections, and recorded violations at polling stations were not systemic and did not affect the vote outcome.
Interior Ministry reported it had received 2,199 complaints on violations during Election Day. Minister Arsen Avakov said the voting went without incidents and unrest.
Kyiv Post staff writer Bermet Talant contributed to this report.
