Ukraine's Interior Ministry has received 470 reports of procedural violations in today's elections, 54 of which were about bribing voters, according to Deputy Interior Minister Serhiy Yarovyy, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports.
"In [Kyiv] there were 15 reports about bribing, nine in Poltava Oblast, eight in Zakarpatska Oblast, six in Odesa Oblast, four in Chernihiv Oblast, two in each Donetsk, Kyiv and Cherkasy Oblasts," Yarovyy said.
Yarovyy also said there were two bomb threats at polling stations in the Luhansk and Khmelnytskyy oblasts and there were also reports of voters damaging ballots.
Altogether, 102,000 law enforcement officers are providing security at polling stations across Ukraine.
Here's an important update on the situation in Mariupol:
The head of the Donetsk Military and Civil Administration, Pavlo Zhebrivskyy, has said at a press briefing that elections in Mariupol won't take place today, according to local news website 0629.com.ua.
"Either the elections in Mariupol will take place on November 15 along with the second round of mayoral elections, or within the next 10 days the Central Electoral Committee will decide to declare the Mariupol elections invalid. Then the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] would have to arrange new elections within 60 days, meaning, they would be held by January," Zhebrivskyy said.
Zhebrivskyy blamed the Central Election Commission for the breakdown of the election process in Mariupol, because it didn't manage the situation with ballot printing properly.
Here is a map of the latest situation in the Donbas conflict zone (courtesy of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, dated October 24). No elections are being held today in the separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine (click image to enlarge):
Ukrainian servicemen who are registered close to the places where they serve in the Donbas region were able to vote during the local elections, according to the press center for Ukraine's antiterrorist operation (ATO), which is what Kyiv calls its campaign against separatists in the east.
"The day passed without any attacks in the ATO zone," the statement reads.
Ukrainian personnel continue to man their positions and are preparing their equipment and weapons for winter.
Voter turnout for the local elections has remained low due to citizens' lack of understanding of the importance of local authorities, political strategist Serhiy Hayday told RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service.
"Our country remains very centralized," Hayday said. "People are used to everything being decided in one office -- on Bankova [Street] at the Presidential Administration. Some things are decided in the Verkhovna Rada [parliament], so the turnout is higher at these elections."
According to Hayday, people don't understand that 80 percent of their needs are decided upon by local authorities.
Hayday doesn't believe that the turnout will have surged upwards by the time voting ends. The polls are due to close at 8 p.m., which is in less than an hour's time.
If you can understand Russian, you might enjoy this video from RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service. Shortly after being barred from voting for not having valid ID, Odesan mayoral candidate Darth Vader berates police officers for detaining Chewbacca -- his fellow member of the Interrnet Party of Ukraine -- over a parking offense.
"You have to be gentle with him, he's an animal!" Vader tells them. "How could he have shown you [his passport], he doesn't even have a registration?! He lives in the catacombs!"
The Wookiee also got into trouble for not presenting them with correct identification when asked and for resisting arrest.
According to the latest reports, Chewbacca was eventually released after being fined 170 hryvnia (about $7.50).
The polling stations are now closed, the voting is over.
