REFLECTIONS OF ELECTION OBSERVERS

On the maidan, and in Kharkiv

by Borislaw Bilash II

Wednesday, December 22

... I arrived at the maidan just before 6 p.m. The crowd was enormous and continued to grow as I stood right in the middle of the action. They had gathered there to listen to Viktor Yushchenko. As an international election observer I have to remain impartial, however the law permits me to attend meetings, rallies, etc. I did not wear orange - the color of Yushchenko's supporters.

I never experienced anything like this. It was like a rock concert; like Woodstock must have been or perhaps like the day Martin Luther King spoke in Washington. We all stood so tightly together that it was practically impossible to move. Many times people tried to pass through us. It brings a whole new meaning to the fact that no two objects can occupy the same place at the same time (says who?). There was perfect order! I never saw one police officer anywhere. All the people were cheerful and polite to one another. I was in awe, as the crowd seemed to go on forever.

The speeches were breathtaking! The chanting was deafening! As an observer I could not participate - only witness the events. At one point I felt very self-conscious considering all the hand raising and cheers by everyone surrounding me. No one questioned my presence. In fact, as I raised my video camera to record the moment, people were kind enough to suck in their guts in so that I could spin around and pan my camera around. "Yush-chen-ko, Yush-chen-ko, Yush-chen-ko," the crowd cheered from time to time. They also shouted "Razom nas bahato i nas he podolaty" - we are many and we will not be defeated. In between they played music - songs written for the cause by leading Ukrainian musicians. It was almost hypnotic. I got the impression that it seemed cool to stand up for democracy. The world-boxing champion Volodymyr Klitschko eloquently spoke in support of Yushchenko, as did other celebrities and politicians. When Yushchenko came onto the stage the crowd cheered and chanted his name. His words were moving. He spoke with such authority and conviction. He clearly spelled out his plans for Ukraine. He promised to change the status quo by bringing the corrupt to justice and by moving Ukraine forward.

There were so many moments tonight that caused me to chokeup - watching and listening to those who express a wish for the freedoms that democracy offers. The desires were heard in speeches; in their songs and in conversations with strangers I had today. The emotions I feel are difficult to describe.

Yulia Tymoshenko, a politician who is an avid supporter of Yushchenko, gave the most inspiring speech. When her name was announced the crowd went crazy. It almost seemed that they adored her more than Yushchenko. She had the aura of a demigod. She told the mass that if the future government of Ukraine is not living up to the expectations of the people that they must express their needs to their representatives in the government (as in, "We the people..."). She said that if the government gives them a deaf ear that they should return to the maidan and loudly clarify their needs - as they have been doing for the past four weeks.

Upon leaving the maidan via the subway tunnels, I spotted a supporter of the candidate Viktor Yanukovych draped in a blue and white banner - the colors of the Yanukovych campaign. Although the lone gentleman turned many heads as the "Oranges" (as they are referred to) passed by, I was impressed that no one heckled him. Most smiled - but no dirty looks, as one may expect. ...

Friday, December 24

I paid a visit to the tent city on the Khreschatyk. The tent city is built next to the maidan. The tents completely blockaded this eight-lane thoroughfare. The perimeter of the tent city was made from metal and concrete benches chained together along with wooden planks sewn together with rope and pallets that fenced off the area. Some of the tents were equipped with stacks with smoke billowing out from them. One tent was designated as a hospital, while another seemed to be a storehouse for food. It was pretty serious stuff! The compound had its own internal security guards - wearing badges identifying themselves as guards. Camouflaged-dressed men wearing orange armbands, identifying themselves with the Orange Revolution, patrolled outside the camp. No weapons were visible. No police. Everyone in and outside the camp was joyful.

One of the tents was set up as a monument to Heorhii Gongadze - the Ukrainian investigative journalist who wrote about the criminal actions of the Kuchma government. Gongadze was kidnapped and beheaded - allegedly under the orders of President Leonid Kuchma. After his death his wife and children received asylum in the U.S. My children attended summer camp with Gongadze's children a few years ago.

The inhabitants of this city sat around barrels of wood, burning fires, singing and talking to pass the time. There were men and women of all ages - but most of them in their 20s. I asked one of them about their experience. I was told that today there are about 1,000 "citizens" left. Most returned to their homes in other parts of Ukraine. I was told that as many as 10,000 people were living in the camp at the height of the protests. I asked why they were still there and was told that they would stay there until Yushchenko is inaugurated! "He is our president," he said. This is their 30th day!

I asked him if I could offer him money for food or clothing. He laughed and asked if I was joking. He told me how the day after the election Yushchenko called people to the streets to protest. He said that within 15 minutes the first tents were up. Obviously Yushchenko supporters expected a fraudulent election and were prepared to do something about it. He told me that right from the beginning no one was hungry or cold, despite the fact that the temperatures were -5°F at times. He said that restaurants brought in food for the protesters. People who could not stand to protest would come to the maidan and distribute food that they prepared in their homes. Old ladies, having arrived by subway would bring in shopping bags filled with firewood for the campers. Companies brought in goods from their factories by the truckload to support the people. ...

As I walked down Khreshchatyk I spotted a gentleman waving a large Yushchenko flag as he handed out orange ribbons to passers-by. Everyone took a ribbon and tied it to their arm. As I passed he offered me a ribbon. I thanked him, but declined and informed him that as an international election observer it would be inappropriate for me to accept the ribbon. He then asked me to carry his flag promoting Yushchenko. I told him that I couldn't. I support his desire to do so, but that it would not be right for me to voice my support for any particular candidate. He kept insisting that I take the flag and then proceeded to question: who told me that I couldn't carry a flag - Kuchma? Bush? He was badgering me, but in a sweet way. He said that I should be free to carry whatever I wanted to. It almost seemed that he was scolding me for submitting to someone's will.

I continued to explain that my job in Ukraine was to help validate a democratic process - not to pick sides. I told him that he in particular would want for me to be recognized as being impartial so that I would be able to either point out infractions to the election law or validate that proper procedures were followed. By this time we had attracted the attention of others and some 20 people surrounded me. At first I was concerned about what I had gotten into, but was quickly relieved when people in the crowd came to my defense and tried convincing this gentleman of my mission. He kept with his insistence. Again I tried to explain to him how inappropriate it would be for me to show any support for a particular candidate, but I promised him that after the election was over I would return to the Maidan and seek him out. With this he finally backed down and I attempted to excuse myself. Now he begins following me and invites me to break bread with him. Ukrainians are insulted when you decline their offer for food. So I agreed - I figured it was harmless. He asked one of the people inside the compound to get us some tea. The service was instant! Another person brought us some crackers. They were all very inviting. The man was very happy with me, but at this point I had remembered what we were told at our training - NOT to accept food or drink from anyone. Probably a small risk, but nevertheless. ... I thanked him for the tea and crackers and said that it was time for me to leave. I disposed of the food once I was out of his sight.

Saturday, December 25

After dropping off our luggage at the Hotel Kharkiv, we went to the apartment of our local contacts - two Canadians, Laryssa and Brent, who were sent by UCC in October to prepare for the original election. By the third time they definitely proved themselves as experts. We spent the rest of the day being trained again (my third training session - 15 hours to date). In all there were about 50 observers they were coordinating - 15 from the States and 35 Canadians. The Canadians came earlier so they were already visiting polling stations the day before the election - simply to get to know the lay of the land and to "set a tone." We divided ourselves up into teams of three. ... Each group was assigned a driver/bodyguard who was to remain with the car at all times.

My team consisted of a professional singer from Atlanta, Will Ritter and a CBS journalist from Green Bay, Wis., Olga Halaburda. Will speaks 10 languages. Olga is working on a series of reports for CBS about the Orange Revolution and the Election: www.wfrv.com/ukraine.

Once again we reviewed all of the tactics that were used in the previous election to perpetrate fraud. ...

E-Day

Our group met at 6 a.m. in the hotel lobby. Myroslav Serbin from Washington, a retired engineer joined our team. Our first stop was at the first polling station (PS No. 53) located in the village of Pisochyn at 11 Nekrasov Road, about a half hour's drive away. We arrived in time for the opening meeting of the polling station commission (PS), held at 7:15 am. The commission verified that everything was in place, sealed the lids of the voting boxes, opened a safe containing the ballots, etc.

I questioned the integrity of the red security tags that sealed the voting boxes. They seemed loose enough to allow one to lift the lid - allowing one to easily tamper with the contents of the box. The commission wasn't concerned but they appeased me by tightening the tags, to which I insisted. We photographed and videotaped as much as we could for the purpose of documenting violations as well as to document that correct procedures were followed. If necessary our tapes would be used in the court of law by either candidate to argue their case. After the last election, the videotapes from the UCC observers proved to be crucial evidence that resulted in the last election being declared fraudulent. The polls opened at 8 a.m. ...

As expected everyone in Kharkiv seemed to speak Russian. I was lucky if I encountered five Ukrainian speakers all day. Heart-wrenching! I continued speaking Ukrainian (English would have been useless) and left the ones on them to makes us communicate. Many of them did speak a mixture of the two languages, known as "surzhyk." Somehow it worked out. Many apologized for not being able to speak Ukrainian. They said when they were growing up it was forbidden. I told them it is never too late to have their own children learn their native tongue. Whenever I got into a bind I relied on Will's knowledge of Russian. He was a great asset on our team.

There were a few dramatic moments at PS No. 53. First of all, one man having come out of the voting booth with his ballot pretended to have dropped his ballot into the voting box but instead placed it in his coat. A team of journalists from Razom who had just entered noticed and started yelling for police. The young man behaved oddly and had a thug-like appearance. The journalist physically struggled with the man while calling for assistance. During the struggle the man removed the ballot from his jacket and deposited the ballot into the voting box. At that point, the police officer quickly interceded and detained him. We videotaped much of the incident, but failed to catch the ballot placed inside the coat. We reviewed the videotape of the journalist, however it did not catch the man in the act on video - only audio. We recorded a statement of the journalist on our videotape, which we'll pass on to UCC for their report. When asked for his assessment, one of the Yanukovych observers suggested that the man was under the influence of drugs and that this is probably an isolated event. A Yushchenko observer concurred. Despite this, both observers wrote "skarhy" (complaints) blaming each other's campaign for being behind the incident. In my judgment, the incident appeared to be isolated. ...

After visiting PS No. 23 located in the town of Bezliudivka, 177 Peremoha Road, and found everything in order, we visited PS No. 81 located in the town of Komunar, 1-a Myr Road, 1-a. The site was to serve 1,850 voters, but was merely 30 square meters. By law, a station serving this many voters was to be more than twice that - 75 square meters. Other violations included the fact that only four voting booths were present, rather than the prescribed six, and only two voting boxes were present rather than the six provided. We inquired about the other boxes and were told that they only received two. We asked to look around and were denied access to doors leading to other areas of the small building. ... Another problem that caught our attention was the fact that only one security tie loosely sealed one side of each voting box, rather than the required two. With only one tie, the lid of the voting box could be easily lifted allowing anyone to tamper with the votes. We inquired about this infraction and were told that this was sufficient. When further pressed on the issue and they claimed they only received two ties. We then brought the infractions to the attention of the Yanukovych and Yushchenko observers who remain on site the entire day, however they seemed disinterested. Upon videotaping the infractions and our queries to commission members and candidate's observers we continued to our next polling station.

At PS No. 40 in the town of Komunar (a different town, than PS No. 81) one voter created a loud commotion by claiming to have received a ballot that was already filled out. She claimed that the Yushchenko supporters were creating fraud. Commission members asked her why she did not point this out when she received her ballot, but rather waited until after she had approached the ballot box to deposit her ballot. Since she had not deposited her ballot yet, we pointed out that election law allows that this damaged ballot be destroyed and that she be given a new ballot. She did not seem satisfied with the simple solution. We felt the woman was putting on a display for our benefit. The three Yushchenko observers and the lone Yanukovych observer concurred. They also indicated that this was the most excitement they saw all day. We left for our next destination. ...

The counting of the ballots [at PS No. 98] was uneventful. All the proper procedures were followed. The atmosphere was pleasant among the Yanukovych and Yushchenko supporters. Everyone worked hard to get the job done - and done well. Two ballots were missing in the end; however, this did not seem to be an issue. No one felt that the missing ballots constituted any type of systematic fraud. Appropriate paperwork was prepared explaining the missing ballots, which would be attached to the Protocol. Yanukovych received 685 votes and Yushchenko received 394.

A long night for democracy

Once the ballots were counted and the protocol reporting the results was written, it was time to deliver it to the Territorial Election Commission (TEC). ... The head of the commission, accompanied by a police officer, one Yushchenko commission member and one Yanukovych observer, delivered the protocol. ... We verified that no changes were made to the Protocol. We videotaped all copies of the protocol that was delivered to the TEC before and after delivery.

Once we arrived at the TEC we were escorted to a room where the protocol was to be presented. There was a 10-meter table. On one side sat members of the Territorial Commission, while on the other sat the heads of the polling stations as they came in to present their Protocol. All presentations of Protocols were done simultaneously. Once the TEC member reviewed the protocol and attachments and then verified that things were in order he would yell out the relevant numbers (numbers of ballots, votes for each candidate, spoiled ballots). It was explained to me that this process constituted the "meeting of the TEC" and that the secretary of the TEC would record this "motion" as a "vote to accept." In fact, we did not witness any formal voting to accept any of the Protocols. We approached one of the CANADEM observers (representing the Canadian Government) who verified our interpretation of the events. There was also an OSCE observer present.

The TEC rejected the protocol because the polling station included two missing ballots in their total ballot count. We had to return to the polling station to have the hand-written protocols rewritten - all 14 copies! Before we left the head of the PS had to get new protocol forms - unfortunately there where no extra copies on site, so we had to wait for them to be delivered from another territory. Ugghh! And I thought we were almost done! Once the forms arrived we returned to the polling station. The ballots remained at the TEC under the guard of the police officer and the Yanukovych observer. The Yushchenko commission member that traveled with the protocol apparently left. The head of the polling station first made a series of phone calls and then we returned to the station.

We arrived at the polling station to find that some members had left. There were enough members, however, to form a quorum. The fact that most of the commission members were wearing coats and hats made me suspect that commission members actually went home and recently returned. The protocols were re-written and we got back into our cars and returned to the TEC. Upon returning to the TEC it was discovered that the paperwork explaining the missing two ballots was now missing itself. Once again the head of the polling station had to return to the polling station to rewrite the paperwork. I could see it in his eyes and in the eyes of the Yanukovych observer that they were very apologetic for keeping me there. It was a very friendly mood.

Finally at 5:30 a.m. on December 27 the protocol was accepted. My job was done. I found our driver/body guard fast asleep in his running car outside the TEC. Since it was late (early?) we decided to go straight to the train station well in time for my 8 a.m. departure.

Preliminary results

At 5:30 a.m. 99 percent of the precincts had reported. Yushchenko was leading with 52 percent versus Yanukovych with 44 percent A whopping 77 percent of eligible voters participated.

Did the presence of international election observers make a difference? We will never be able to answer this question. I would like to think so, but in my heart I believe that the citizens of Ukraine did it on their own. After rejecting the results of the last election, Secretary of State Colin Powell said something to the effect that the United States looks forward to seeing Ukrainians solve their own problems. I believe they did just that. They changed their election laws in such a way that it was more difficult to cheat at an election. I was impressed with how well these Yanukovych and Yushchenko supporters worked together to get through this election. If we were there or not, I am not sure that it would have made that much of a difference. I think they have a good handle on things - at least a good start! I hope we made a difference. Again, one will never know.

Monday, December 27

Back to the maidan

Once back in Kyiv I took a two-hour nap and then decided to return to the maidan - this time wearing orange! I made a promise a few days ago to return to that man I had met on the maidan. It took about 30 minutes of searching, but I found him waving his flag - still handing out ribbons. I stood in front of him and smiled. He immediately recognized me and exclaimed that he didn't expect my return. I told him that I made a promise - I told him that I came to help him carry his flag.

We paraded up and down the Khreshchatyk for a short time during which he asked me about my family and I about his. His name is Sashko and he also has two daughters, Olena and Katia. He gave me Yushchenko banners and posters to take home for my girls so that they would have a part of history.

I told him that I am a teacher and he proceeded to give me packages of orange ribbons to share with my students. He said that my students should know how much Ukrainians desire freedom. My eyes welled with tears.

Borislaw Bilash II, a teacher who resides in Millburn, N.J., traveled to Ukraine in late December as an election observer with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. He explained his motivation: "For the most part, I was always asking others to do something for Ukraine. Today's it's my turn to step up to the plate." The article above is excerpted from Mr. Bilash's journal of the days leading up to his trip and his time in Ukraine.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 30, 2005, No. 5, Vol. LXXIII

| Home Page |