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for the area had to be cast, the commissioners had elected a Yushchenko commissioner as chairman. In this case he was Vladyslav Volodymyrovych Hanych- Dudko, a student from Kyiv who had impressed eve ryone. He had come to Yenakiyeve a day or two earlier to introduce himself and he had made a very good im pression. Throughout the day we spent time in a number of voting stations. We followed a mobile ballot box from one polling place and witnessed a voter make her case to the court for an absentee ballot. As the day unfolded, dealing with mobile bal loting was perhaps the point of greatest contention. The issue was not fraud but the desire by the commis sioners for both candidates to make sure those quali fied to vote had the opportunity to do so. The changes in the election law cut off a number of serious areas for voting fraud but in their wake it appears a number of people who legitimately needed the mobile ballot opportunity under the Ukrain ian system were not eligible for mobile voting. There were some pretty emotional scenes of people with ob vious and serious disabilities being assisted to the vot ing stations by relatives and friends. Marta and I followed one mobile ballot box to a dingy apartment complex and up six unlit and rough flights of stairs to an apartment where a wheelchair- bound gentleman voted. The apartment was so narrow it was hard to imagine how he maneuvered within his own apartment. And, with a narrow unlit staircase and no elevator, he seemed trapped on the sixth floor. Bob McEwen had a similar experience at the next apart ment house. The conditions of the people are deplorable. I kept thinking, “This is Yanukovych’s economic mira cle!” That they are motivated to make the effort to vote under these conditions should be seen as an important building block for Ukraine’s democratic future. We got back to voting station 12 before the polls closed and were locked in with the commission to monitor the vote count. The count followed every rule precisely. It was meticulous, double-checked and congenial. When the count was done we followed the documents and their escorts to the Territorial Election Commission where, in turn, Ivan Dmytrovych Zhyva- sivs’kyi reported the results from polling station 12. Through the night we watched as the commis sions reported their results and had them accepted. In one sense the lopsided results were staggering. As ex ample: Polling station 41: Yushchenko 2; Yanukovych 2,612; spoiled 27; none of the above 19 Polling station 20: Yushchenko 31; Yanukovych 2,571; spoiled 12; none of the above 14 Polling station 88: Yushchenko 18; Yanukovych 1,398; spoiled 14; none of the above 11 On the other hand, no polling station reported a 100% or more turnout; a huge difference from No vember 21. The reduction in absentee balloting was almost beyond comprehension. The bottom line observation—we saw no evi dence of systemic irregularities and saw very little to question in a region where huge numbers of question able absentee votes were cast in November and where total November vote counts exceeded the number of eligible voters. We returned to Donetsk about 6:30 A.M. on December 27 having come away with a belief that the voting in Territory 50 had been handled professionally and with great effort by the individual commissions to be fair and accurate. Perhaps we also saw great hope in the way almost every Yushchenko supporter on those commis sions had conducted him or herself. The Yanukovych supporters on those commissions saw members of the Orange Revolution from central and western Ukraine who did not have horns, who were respectful of their colleagues and respectful of Yanukovych voters and who sought nothing more than a fair election. It is en tirely possible that those few dedicated “revolutionar ies” were also early emissaries who began on that day to break down barriers and begin a dialogue that can overcome the intentional divisions that had created for partisan advantage. Ukraine’s road will not be easy nor solutions simple. Huge challenges remain. But I believe that in the end, good people appreciate other good people. Never before have I seen more clearly the cost of a controlled and unfair media. The biggest difference between the people in the different regions of Ukraine was their access to information. As I write this, Mr. Yanukovych continues his challenge to the election result but he knows the truth. Whatever violations may have been found, there was no systemic fraud. Unlike the announced results of November that brought thousands into the streets and the cold to exercise their rights, these results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people of Ukraine. Democratic government they have demanded and received. Now Viktor Yushchenko faces huge challenges and the people of Ukraine will need to rise to the occasion. It is their nation; they have claimed it and now must build it. We in the west must be there for them. 16 “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, СІЧЕНЬ 2005 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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