MP Wrzesnewskyj comments on attempts at fraud

KYIV - Notwithstanding the reduction in the number of infractions in the third round of the presidential election in Ukraine on December 26, Liberal Member of Parliament and Canadian Parliamentary Election Observer Borys Wrzesnewskyj again expressed disappointment with the continued attempts at election fraud in the east of the country during the rerun of the run-off.

Commenting on the third round, MP Wrzesnewskyj stated: "There has been progress to correct many aspects of the fraud witnessed by Canadian observers in the previous two rounds of voting. As part of the Canada Corps team here to ensure that the will of the Ukrainian people is respected, it is comforting that unlike the previous rounds, the third round official results more closely match exit poll figures. I am, nevertheless, disappointed that on election day I witnessed, with Members of Parliament Andrew Telegdi and Bernard Bigras, many of the same infractions observed in the second round and that irregularities have continued both at polling stations and at the territorial level."

Mr. Wrzesnewskyj, who led parliamentary delegations during the first two rounds of voting, along with his colleagues experienced the following illegal activities and violations: denial of access to so-called "technical rooms" of a territorial commission where home-voting lists were being prepared; discovery of hundreds of unnumbered ballots; denial of access to Canadian observers to a polling station; confiscation of an MP's camera and video camera; police intimidation of voters, local and international election observers, and commission members; fraudulent voters lists that included people who were deceased and people who have moved away. These violations took place at polls in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine as well as in villages outside of Kharkiv.

Notwithstanding these infractions, Mr. Wrzesnewskyj expressed the importance of the role that Canadian election observers have played in the Ukrainian elections: "Canadian election observers have played a major role in ensuring fairness and transparency in the electoral process. By sending an unprecedented in size contingent of observers, Canada has made a great contribution in the evolution of democracy in Ukraine."

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 2, 2005, No. 1, Vol. LXXIII

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