Maryna Stavniychuk, President Viktor Yushchenko’s representative to the Central Election Committee and the Constitutional Court of Ukraine, made a statement on Monday morning, President's press office reports.
Stavniychuk described today’s delays in the counting of ballots as “worrying and critical” and said the Central Election Committee usually received results from 80-90% of regional commissions on the next morning after election. She said Ukraine’s eastern regions, particularly Lugansk, had counted only 32% of the ballots while some of the country’s central and western regions had counted 70-80% of yesterday’s votes.
“This is not normal. We have only one election in Ukraine today – the snap parliamentary election. Only one ballot was used,” she said and added that fewer parties had taken part in this year’s poll.
These two factors mean that the ballots could have been handledfaster than after the 2006 election, she said.
Stavniychuk said vote rigging was a punishable offence under Ukraine’s Constitution and, addressing “each of those counting the ballots in the election districts located in the Donetsk, Lugansk, Odesa and other regions,” added they could be prosecuted for falsification. She expressed hopes they would be “conscious of their responsibility and will not allow falsification.”
