Quarterly Activities Report of Civic Network OPORA for the Period 1 April – 30 June, 2014

During the period from 01.04.2014 to 30.06.14, OPORA conducted major project tasks and objectives set forth in the agreement. Long-term and short-term observation of the early presidential election in every oblast was conducted by OPORA. In 2014, 190 long-term observers analyzed the course of election campaign from official start to the announcement of winners. 2000 short-term observers joined them on the Election Day. OPORA prepared 8 interim reports on commission activities, nomination of candidates, campaigning, the use of administrative resource, vote count, and other aspects. The organization also published results of the sample-based parallel vote tabulation (PVT or quick count), which is representative for the whole country and has a small margin of error compared to other types of research. OPORA conducted the parallel vote tabulation during Kyiv Mayoral and City Council elections, which proved the trustworthiness of the announced electoral results. The organization was actively lobbying for electoral reforms under Objective 2, and sponsored some amendments to the Law of Ukraine on the Elections to the Verkhovna Rada of Autonomous Republic of Crimea, to Local Councils, and of Village, Town and City Heads. In the previous reporting period, the organization has also elaborated and successfully lobbied for amendments to the Law of Ukraine on Election of the President of Ukraine. The 2014 Special Election of the President of Ukraine was held in an extremely complicated political situation. After events of November 2013 – February 2014 and flight of the President Yanukovych, the continuity of government principle was breached. The Russian Federation used the weakness of state apparatus and annexed the Autonomous Republic of Crimea under pretext of a referendum, which lawfulness was denied by Ukraine, world leaders, and reputable international organizations. Rhetorics of Russian leaders was based on the absence of directly elected President of Ukraine, and used to block any negotiations concerning events in Crimea, and in Eastern Ukraine some time later. Elections in Ukraine were held in correspondence with the legislation and democratic standards. Votes were counted fairly, and no violations which could have influenced the final election result were detected. Despite the campaigning was complicated in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and it's difficult to say that is was unrestrained, we may say that opportunities were quite equal for all participants. OPORA's summary is based on the results of long- and short-term observation, criteria and principles of democratic elections established by documents of the Venice Commission, Copenhagen Conference, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).