Monday, May 12, 2014, 17:28
Russian mass-media have been publishing photos and videos with “large queues of the peoplewilling to cast their votes for the Donetsk National Republic” but the queues are artificially created “pictures”; the referendum’s organizers have opened far fewer polling stations than necessary.
According to the Central Election Committee and the State Register of Electors, the overall number of the voters in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts is 5.149 million people.
3. 35 million voters live in Donetsk Oblast. The oblast is divided on 21 polling districts in which 2,425 polling stations should work. In particular 706,000 people are registered voters in Donetsk where 371 polling stations should be working.
344,000 voters live in the four districts in Mariupol who vote at 213 polling stations.
1.8 million voters are registered in Luhansk Oblast and almost 370,000 of them live in the city of Luhansk. The oblast has 11 polling districts and 1437 polling stations. Of these, 205 are in the city of Luhansk.
Along with that, the representatives of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk stated that they would open 1527 polling stations in Donetsk Oblast for voting in the referendum.
In fact, their numbers were far fewer.
In a district of the city of Donetsk where 200 000 people live and 80 polling stations should have worked their number totaled less than ten.
Moreover, the local authorities of some cities refused to grant premises for polling stations. The Central Election Committee and SSU blocked access to the voter register a few weeks ago so where the stations that were permitted got their voter information and their lists is unknown.
At the same time journalists have registered cases when ‘polling stations’ were opened at markets just by putting up a tent and the voting process was conducted in violation of all procedures – with printed forms being filled in without showing any documents. One could even cast votes for a few people at once.
More alarming is the fact that the separatists’ ballots have no anti-counterfeiting measures and have been distributed in the cities since Thursday.
Source: http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2014/05/11/7024999/
Translated by en.pravda.com.ua
