On 31 October, court sessions were held in Obukhiv and Vasylkivsk rayonal courts of Kyiv oblast. Obukhiv court received 17 lawsuits claiming that the elections should be recognized as void at polling stations where a candidate from the Batkivshchyna all-Ukrainian Union, Viktor Romaniuk, has won with considerable margin. Despite circumstances and testimony given by members of precinct election commissions were equal in all the cases, 8 of them were dismissed and 3 satisfied.
A considerable part of lawsuits were filed by Tetiana Zasukha, all the other – on behalf of representatives of lesser-known candidates. The cause for recognizing the voting at polling stations void in all 17 lawsuits was the fact that observers were not allowed to be present at PECs on the Election Day. Nevertheless, most of these polling stations have submitted all protocols to the DEC without any of such complaints.
During the consideration of the first case, around 50 activists of the Svoboda party and supporters of Viktor Romanovych gathered in front of Obukhiv rayon court. Mass media also came to the place. In result, the judge dismissed first two lawsuits. In all cases the lawsuit should have been accompanied by the corresponding statement of violation. On one side, lawsuits were claiming that the observer was allegedly informed: the commission voted for his nonadmission to the polling station. On the other side, the register shows that representatives from the corresponding candidates and a number of other observers were already present at most of these PECs. Besides that, commission members are assuring that there was no such voting.
However, right after the rally in front of the court broke up, judges started taking opposite decisions. As a result, despite multiple testimonies and the equality of cases, decisions of commissions on nonadmission of the observer were considered as unlawful in 3 cases, what may be the cause for recognizing the voting at polling stations void. Besides that, according to the OPORA observer, statements of violation were prepared by the claimant right in the court during the break.
At the same time, judges in Vasylkiv rayon court decided to satisfy 10 lawsuits of 11. According to Mykola Motoryk, the lawyer of Viktor Romaniuk, all lawsuits in Vasylkiv were also filed by Tetiana Zasukha.
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Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing violations through comprehensive civic action. Professional monitoring at all stages of the election process indirectly influences the quality of the campaign. The public opinion, both foreign and domestic is formed through gathering and spreading of information among the target audience. From a strategic perspective public monitoring of elections focuses upon improving the system and certain procedures. In 2012, during Parliamentary elections in Ukraine OPORA implements a large-scale campaign of long- and short term observation, organizes a statistical vote-count by the results of voting with the proportional component of the electoral system on a basis of representative selection, will provide 100% coverage of polling stations by observers in separate single-mandate majoritarian districts. OPORA observers will work in all 225 electoral districts, and 3,500 activists will join them on the voting day. Organization will use the latest means of spreading information on observation results, including infographics and interactive maps.