How elections in the Luhansk region were rigged
Doesn't anyone find it strange that, according to sociologists' forecasts, the Opposition Bloc was struggling to pass the 5% threshold, and suddenly everyone is talking about a landslide victory? Where did this miracle come from? Why would voters fall in love with former corrupt officials from the Party of Regions? Why would they fall in love with single-member candidates who have long been facing prison terms?
A Lecture with a "Secret" and Other Miracles
The innovative ways to bribe citizens are simply astounding in their brazen audacity. For example, representatives of candidate Yevhen Bakulin organized a lecture and invited voters to it. Yevhen Bakulin is the former head of Naftogaz, an expert in multi-billion-dollar shady schemes. A criminal case was opened against him, but the corrupt official was released on a small bail (compared to the billions stolen from the state). During the lecture, citizens became 200 hryvnias richer, and if they voted for the former head of Naftogaz, they were promised further enrichment.
The votes were simply bought brazenly. The math is simple: between two and four billion dollars were stolen, and the costs of bribing voters will amount to approximately half a million to eight hundred thousand hryvnias. As they say, nothing personal, just business.
The Capone Method
The legendary gangster said that kind words and a gun would achieve more than kind words alone. Boyko's group employed LPR militants, who intimidated people and representatives of pro-Ukrainian candidates. In the Luhansk region, posters were posted threatening citizens who went to the polls. They were promised trial "under martial law" for "supporting the fascist regime." The LPR sentenced members of election commissions to death. They even went so far as to hang photographs of these people on lampposts, complete with their exact addresses. Naturally, voters and election commission members were faced with the choice of "either having their heads blown off or going to their dachas." As soon as election commission members agreed to cooperate with the opposition, the persecution by the LPR immediately ceased, and even some of the bribes were used to bribe voters.
Santa Claus's Method
One of the "gimmicks," one might even say the hit of the season, was home voting. A voter suddenly falls ill and demands that someone bring a ballot box to their home. Instead of a commission, someone (let's call him Santa Claus) arrives with gifts. And, naturally, under the Christmas tree, that is, in the box, the ballot for the "right" candidate flies. Since, by law, up to 10% of citizens can be sick, that means one in ten is in the pocket of the corrupt gentlemen. So, at least 10 percent can be safely deducted from the results of the Opposition Bloc and their majoritarian candidates.
Watch your hands
The most exciting part is manipulating the ballots. You can slip the election commission members different forms, or not give them any forms at all, or even just draw a zero on the precinct election commission's protocol—well, just for fun. The main thing is to get no more than 100%. All these "toys" have been around since the days of the Party of Regions and Mr. Yefremov.
Thus, the head of the commission, Yevgeniya Yanevich-Gavrisheva, along with commission member Vitaly Ponomarev and Vyacheslav Tkachuk, blocked the work of the district electoral commission. The district electoral commission openly worked for Opposition Bloc candidate Valery Golenko. The work of the district commission was sabotaged by declaring a general day off for the district electoral commission the day before the election. Then, throughout the day, the swearing-in of district electoral commission members, who had been included in the commission by the Central Electoral Commission in accordance with the resolution "On Changes to the Composition of District Electoral Commissions," was blocked. The secretary of the district electoral commission was denied the transfer of documentation, which, accordingly, also prevents him from beginning his duties.
On the orders of the head of the 113th Electoral District Electoral Commission, the precinct election commission vote count forms were issued with gross violations. For example, the protocol forms for the Belokurakinsky District were not handed over to the relevant precinct election commissions, but were instead given by the head of the precinct election commission to a member of the precinct commission, who then took them to an unknown location. Changing, damaging, or adding to them was simply a matter of technique.
Our people in the Central Election Commission and the region
Pro-Ukrainian candidates complained to Kyiv about such actions by former Party of Regions members. But the corrupt officials had their own man there, who simply gave the violators a gentle slap on the wrist. This was Mikhail Okhendovsky.Read more about it in the article Mikhail Okhendovsky: What is the new "Pidrahuy" keeping quiet about?), who faithfully served the Yanukovych regime. "I wouldn't like to use the word 'sabotage' in relation to the work of these election commission members right now, but if the situation doesn't change in the coming hours, the Central Election Commission will not only use this word but also apply other, rather harsh measures against these district election commission members, including raising the issue of terminating the mandates of these commission members. I would ask the district election commission members to forget their dependence on the parliamentary candidates and the political parties that recommended them for these commissions and not to succumb to pressure from certain candidates in single-mandate constituencies," he told reporters. Grozny, in words, Okhendovsky turned out to be a verbally tame kitten, assisting the Opposition Bloc and its candidates.
But there was also a "roof" in the region. First Deputy Governor Ihor Martynenkov is linked to the Party of Regions through energy schemes, and therefore aids his former "accomplices." He actively does this behind the back of Governor Gennady Moskal, and clearly facilitates the entry of Petro Poroshenko's opponents into the Rada. After all, many corrupt officials benefit from maintaining the quiet backwater in the Luhansk region, which has provided large sums of money to certain shady schemers.
He also addressed the candidates: "You shouldn't hold commission members hostage to the situation you now find yourself in because of the will of the Ukrainian people and the will of the voters in your districts. Having lost the election, you must have the courage to accept that result," Okhendovsky emphasized. Of course, given the current situation, it's clear that no one will ever be held accountable for the wholesale bribery of voters. But if it weren't for Yanukovych's protégé and former active member of the Party of Regions, Okhendovsky, who worked 100% for his "accomplices," the Opposition Bloc would never have made it to the Verkhovna Rada.
Roman Yakushev, ANTICOR
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