Voters face daunting task on Parliament election day (02/20/94)

Voters face daunting task on Parliament election day

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyyiv Press Bureau

KYYIV - Ukrainian voters may have quite a task before them when they enter the voting booth on March 27, thanks to an unorthodox balloting procedure remaining from Soviet-era elections.

Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission has released details of the voting procedure that will require the voter to cross out the names of every candidate the person does not want elected, leaving unmarked the single candidate of choice.

Andre Bouchard, Canadian expert and counsel to the electoral commission, said the ballots may be difficult to fill out. "These are vestiges of the old Soviet system, where two or three candidates was a large choice. The people are accustomed to that system. But now we are generally looking at many more choices in each district."

Mr. Bouchard explained that he has approached Ukrainian television about producing a video explaining the proper way to fill out a ballot.

If a ballot is incorrectly filled out, it is invalid. With 3,574 candidates registered before the February 10 deadline, a large portion relatively unknown to the average voter, confusion is foreseeable.

For example, the Leningrad district of Kyyiv has 20 registered candidates. The voter from that district will be asked to enter the voting booth, carefully read the directions and then make his selection. The voter will have to review the list of candidates, or find the particular party or workers' collective he supports, if that is how he is voting. Each candidate's name will be followed by the group sponsoring him. If the person is an independent, the candidate's name will be followed by the number of citizens who endorsed the candidate. Having found his choice, the voter must cross out all of the other names.

The law states that a valid election results only when more than 50 percent of those voting choose one candidate. That figure, however, must exceed 25 percent of the total number eligible to vote in a district.

"If the voter mistakenly leaves more than one name, the ballot is invalidated," said Roman Zvarych of the Elections 94 press center. "If this happens in large numbers, it leaves the possibility the election could be voided."

And with voter apathy currently estimated at 45 to 50 percent, Mr. Zvarych said he foresees some people throwing their hands up in exasperation and walking out of the voting booth.

Of the 3,574 candidates, 2,082 were nominated by signed petitions, 427 by political parties and 1,065 by workers, collectives. Twenty-eight political parties are involved in the election campaign.

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