Skip to content
Call Us Today! 212-533-4646 | MON-FRI 12PM - 4PM (EST)
DONATE
SUBSCRIBE
Search for:
About Us
Publications
FAQ
Annual Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Report 2021
Initiatives
Advocate
Educate
Cultivate
Care
News
Newsletters
Sign Up For Our Newsletter
Join UNWLA
Become a Member
Volunteer With Us
Donate to UNWLA
Members Portal
Calendar
Shop to Support Ukraine
Search for:
Print
Print Page
Download
Download Page
Download Right Page
Open
1
2-3
4-5
6-7
8-9
10-11
12-13
14-15
16-17
18-19
20-21
22-23
24-25
26-27
28-29
30-31
32-33
34-35
36-37
38-39
40
framed by mountain-like slag piles from the mines. As for the people, the evolution of attitudes that has taken place in Kyiv since I first visited—a generally positive, up beat, spring-in-the-step popula tion moving forward—has not found its way to this dreary throwback. But we were there for the presidential revote. We were not sure what to expect. Christmas Day was our day to announce ourselves, our day to leverage our presence. In Donestk and in election district 50 we had the opportunity to talk to people. What they had to say was fascinating. These are good people, solid people. But they also are people who have not tasted the benefits of a free press, people whose information has been man aged, and people whose reference points have been carefully and maliciously controlled. It is difficult to repeat what these people actually believe. They believe Viktor Yushchenko has made numerous deals with “the Americans,” deals like the one commonly accepted as fact that will allow the United States to dump all of its nuclear and chemical waste into the old mine shafts in Donbass. They believe that during the time Yushchenko was Prime Minister and striking miners traveled to Kyiv that Yushchenko refused to meet with their dele gations, despite ready evidence to the contrary. They “know” that Yushchenko will force the use of Ukrainian. Language repeatedly came up in conversation. They believe Ukrainian will be forced upon them in ways that will discriminate against and disadvantage both themselves and their children—this despite Yushchenko’s constant representations to the contrary and, it should be added, his entire approach to the language issues. These good and honorable souls believe that Yanukovych won on November 21 and that Yushchen ko’s tactics “to steal” the election away from Yanuko vych were planned long before the vote itself. They be lieve that the Orange Revolution is a fraud, that the peo ple in Independence Square were paid to be there and that they were provided drugs to keep them there. These beliefs were not shared with us as be liefs; they were told as absolute fact—to those we met there was simply no question about the accuracy. These are not beliefs that can be changed eas ily and hearing them widely made it clear that the per centage of votes previously cast in favor of Mr. Yanukovych well might have been accurate. The ques tion then was not the percentage but the number of votes lawfully cast. It was interesting to me that despite all of the beliefs, especially the anti-American views, we were graciously received throughout election district 50. On Christmas Day we stopped at the Territorial Elections Commission where the ballots would all be recorded on election night and where the ballots themselves were being distributed to the respective election com missions from throughout the region. The appointed chairman of the territorial commission was Ivan Dmy- trovych Zhyvasivs’kvi, a Yushchenko supporter and Deputy in the Rada. He had arrived a day or two early and seemed to have the respect and cooperation of the other commissioners. He played it straight and made it clear he simply wanted the process to be clean and fair. We visited the local court where election day disputes might be taken and where absentee voting authorization could be granted. The courthouse was the only building we saw that had been painted since independence—at least. And it had been painted an almost phosphorescent pink and orange! I have no illu sion about the orange being a political statement but I am surprised it was not painted over between Novem ber 21 and December 26. The chief judge told us he had just wanted to clean up the courthouse a bit. We also met with 01’ha Bykova and her daughter Tetyana from the Committee of Voters of Ukraine. They were very experienced in the region and its voting history, and advised us on what to watch for and what to expect. The Christmas Day probes into the region and the conversations familiarized us with both the voting locations and the people. The real action would be the next day. Bob, Marta and I were in our selected first voting station (actually two stations were housed in the same building) well before the polls opened. We were there for the commission’s preparation and set up of their tables, lists, etc. Critically, there were Yushchen ko commissioners as well as Yanukovych commis sioners. The revised election law called for an equal split between commissioners supporting the two can didates but we never found exact parity. Nevertheless, there were Yushchenko supporters despite the distance from what could be called “Yushchenko country.” More importantly, the commissioners at the various voting places, who visited throughout the day, seemed committed to following the rules. With but a single exception the commissioners seemed to work well together and to respect both the rules and each other. The exception, sadly, was an overzealous and too assertive Yushchenko supporter who served on one commission and upset his follow Yushchenko col leagues as well as the Yanukovych commissioners. On the other hand, at several voting stations, including polling station 12 where the absentee ballots “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2005 15
Page load link
Go to Top