Vladimir Yelchenko, Ambassador of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, quoted (RU) as saying that only 741 out of 42,000 officially-registered Ukrainians in Russia voted. “The weather conditions played their part -- it was raining and snowing. Besides, one couldn’t include him or herself on the list on the day of elections. People didn’t register on time or were misdirected.”
21:2428.10.2012
Arseniy Yatsenyuk, leader of the United Opposition, and Oleksandr Turchynov, deputy leader of All Ukrainian Union "Fatherland," speaking at a news conference at the opposition campaign headquarters in Kyiv about the parliamentary election in Ukraine.
Arseny Yatsenyuk (left), heads a union of opposition parties, and his wife Theresa leave voting booths at a polling station during the parliamentary elections in Kiev.
"After the announcement of the exit poll it is absolutely clear that the Ukrainian people support the opposition and not the authorities. It is very important now that after the polls are closed the votes be counted, there should be no violations, there should be no falsifications. And the most important thing is not the party list, but also the vote count in every single-mandate constituency."
21:3228.10.2012
We missed this one before. A woman appears to be stuffing several ballots at a ballot box in Dniepropetrovsk.
21:3628.10.2012
TNS Ukraine and Socis exit poll results on majoritarian candidates:
Party of Regions 27.79%
Independent candidates - 19.29%
All Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" - 18.32%
UDAR - 10.42%
Communist Party - 8.58%
Svoboda - 5.80%
Other parties - 9.81%
22:4128.10.2012
It's Monday morning in Ukraine, and we are shutting down this live blog for the day. On turnout estimated at just below 60%, here is how the main parties faired according to exit polls conducted by five different organizations (read full wrap up):
Party of Regions: 29.96%
All Ukrainian Union "Fatherland:" 23.77%
UDAR: 14.33%
Svoboda: 12.49%
Communist Party: 11.74%
Keep in mind that these exit polls are only for districts voting on party lists, which represent half of the seats in parliament. The other half come from majoritarian districts, from which exit poll numbers are just beginnning to trickle out. Readers can find a detailed explainer on Ukraine's system here.
There were numerous complaints of fraud (link in Ukrainian) both from political parties and non-partisan observers, as well several reports of alleged cyber attacks against observer web sites, political sites, and even the web hub of President Viktor Yanukovich's Party of Regions (some video samples here and here). We expect statements from observer groups tomorrow.
Thanks to all who helped (especially our colleagues at Radio Svoboda in Ukraine), contributed, and -- most importantly -- read this blog.
Finally, for those of you who somehow missed it, a panda votes:
08:1929.10.2012
And....we're back.
08:2929.10.2012
Official election results as of ~30 minutes ago:
Party of Regions: 35.72%
Batkivshchyna: 21.49%
Communist Party: 15.14
UDAR: 12.80%
Svoboda: 8%
As you can see, the results are divergent from last night's exit polls, with the Party of Regions and Communists doing better, and every other major party down a bit. The exit poll averages from last night:
Party of Regions: 29.96%
Batkivshchyna: 23.77%
UDAR: 14.33%
Svoboda: 12.49%
Communist Party: 11.74%
09:1529.10.2012
Via Ukraine's Central Election Commission -- with 43% of the vote counted:
Party of Regions: 35.35%
Batkivshchyna: 21.71%
Communist Party: 15.01%
UDAR: 12.88%
Svoboda: 8%
09:2329.10.2012
Via Ukraine's Central Election Commission -- with 46% of the vote counted:
Party of Regions: 35.15%
Batkivshchyna: 21.9%
Communist Party: 14.94%
UDAR: 12.87%
Svoboda: 8.26%
09:2829.10.2012
The OSCE will hold a press conference at 2:30pm local time on the election monitoring mission in Ukriane. We will embed the live video here.
