Observers representing Ukraine’s Voter Committee have recorded the first irregularities in Sunday’s parliamentary election.
According to observers, “campaign materials are being illegally spread on behalf of the Servant of the People, Opposition Platform – For Life and Opposition Bloc parties.”
The Committee’s members also pointed out that some regionals election commissions were facing difficulties. In particular, several polling stations in the Vinnitsa and Kirovograd regions failed to open on time, there were no control sheets at a polling station in the city of Nikolayev though voting had already begun there, several irregularities were recorded in the Vinnitsa region during preparatory meetings.
Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Sergei Yarovoi, in turn, said at a briefing that eight polling stations had not opened by 09:00.
National Police Chief Sergei Knyazev said that the eight polling stations were located in the Chernigov, Donetsk, Nikolayev and Zhitomir regions. According to him, election commissions at the polling stations failed either to provide member lists on time or reprint ballots.
On Sunday, a snap parliamentary election is taking place in Ukraine. According to recent opinion polls, the Opposition Platform – For Life party is expected to come in second in the election, as 15.1% of voters were ready to cast their ballots in its favor. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s Servant of the People party has a chance of winning the election with the support of 42.5% of voters. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko’s European Solidarity party may come in third (8.1%) and former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko’s Batkivshchina can take fourth place (7.6%). Other political forces are unlikely to get over the five percent threshold necessary to join parliament.