On the day of the parliamentary elections of February 24, of the 2,094 polling stations monitored by observers of Promo-LEX Association, 202 were opened with a delay of up to 15 minutes. In 12 polling stations, the surveillance cameras weren’t turned on when the electoral operations started. Also, 34 polling stations were closed after 9pm, while at 38 polling places the surveillance cameras didn’t film the whole vote count, shows the election monitoring report No. 6 compiled by Promo-LEX, IPN reports.
According to the report, a part of the electoral functionaries continued not to respect the vote count requirements. These didn’t present the ballots to all the participants in the vote count. On the election day, most of the reported incidents were identified by observes who formed part of mobile teams – 1,118 situations. At the 2016 presidential elections, the number of incidents reported in the first round was 267, while in the second round – 467.
In at least 50 polling stations, the Association’s observers had limited access to the vote records, which is a deviation that seriously affects the integrity and transparency of the vote count and totaling process. In 24 cases, the observers were obstructed in their activity during the voting process. A mobile team of the Association was followed by unknowns and the right to freely observe the process inside the polling station was not respected.
Among the most frequently reported incidents, Promo-LEX mentioned the identification of mistakes on the register of voters (129), organized transportation of voters to polling places (123), photographing of ballots and other cases of non-observance of the secrecy of the ballot (107). There were identified 59 incidents related to rumors, attempts or even situations of paying voters. At the presidential elections of 2016, the number of such incidents in both of the rounds stood at 17.
Promo-LEX warned about the incidents typical of these elections, such as interruption of filming during voting and vote count – 79 cases, deterioration of ballots or other incidents concerning the incorrect use of ballots – 56 cases. The Association analyzed 2,093 vote records received from 2,094 polling stations to see how correctly they were compiled. One voting report could not be obtained from the electoral bodies.
In the national constituency, Promo-LEX identified 142 reports compiled with mistakes, while in single-member constituencies - 160 incorrect reports. The number of incorrect reports at the recent parliamentary elections was higher than at the elections held between 2016 and 2018. The analysis of the parallel counting of votes cast in the national constituency and in the 51 single-member constituencies showed the final data of Promo-LEX confirmed the results obtained by all the election runners as reported by the CEC.
