Ukrainians in Russia cast their ballots for Ukraine's president (11/07/04)

Ukrainians in Russia cast their ballots for Ukraine's president

by Maryna Makhnonos
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

MOSCOW - "Why can't I vote?" a woman inside a polling station in Moscow argued nervously while waving her Ukrainian passport. A minute before this scene I had fought my way to the station through a crowd of dozens of voters who jammed in front of the station's doors. They argued with police, who tried to maintain order. I passed the security check inside and saw the same chaos in the station's front room. The answer to this mass was unexpected: numerous voters didn't find themselves on registration lists and tried to prove their right to select Ukraine's president, but their unsuccessful arguments dragged on and created a long line outside one of four polling stations in Russia on the rainy and cold Sunday, October 31.

"I think hundreds of those who have been listed in consular files were not included on the voting lists," said Alexander Kovalevsky, an observer who represented presidential candidate Mykola Hrabar.

A total of 4,591 people were listed as voters, according to Moscow's polling station officials. A total of 1,336 people voted, including not only those on the lists, but also those who arrived from Ukraine with absentee ballots. Maria Domoslavska, an observer representing candidate Viktor Yushchenko, said most of the voters were from Ukraine with authorization to vote outside of their home districts.

Hundreds of Ukrainians in Moscow were deeply disappointed when they failed to vote due to their own negligence. A Russian TV channel had informed them a day before the elections that it was enough to present their passport at a polling station to be able to vote. However, this information was incorrect as Ukrainians can vote in Russia in three cases only: if they are listed in consular files that should automatically put them on the voters' list; if they arrived with voter certificates issued by their home districts; or if they submitted a letter stating they wish to vote in Russia at least one week before elections.

Those who found their names on the lists proceeded to another room to receive their ballot, chose their favorite candidate and cast the ballot into one of four see-through boxes. About 10 observers who represented different presidential candidates and Ukrainian Embassy officials watched the voting procedure throughout the day. No serious violations were registered, except for the mysterious disappearance of voters from the lists, several observers said. The head of the local election commission, Anatolii Bezgrebelny, told journalists that this needs to be investigated, but he couldn't say how many people didn't find their names on the lists on which they were supposed to be included.

Activists of Ukraine's diaspora conducted their own independent exit-poll outside Moscow's polling station. According to their data, 187 of the total of 470 interviewed voters said they supported Mr. Yushchenko. Another 180 voters said they supported Mr. Yanukovych; 76 people refused to answer. However, diaspora activist Vladyslav Kyrychenko said he knew most of the people who didn't answer. "I would say they were from pro-Yanukovych public groups. Thus, we may assume that Mr. Yanukovych won in Moscow," Mr. Kyrychenko added.

"I voted for the candidate who will support better relations between Russia and Ukraine," said Tamara Savchenko, 72, a pensioner who worked for 43 years as a teacher in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region. As her daughter lives in Moscow, she said she expects the new Ukrainian president to ease border crossing rules and other formalities between the states.

"I ask only one question: why should we entrust Ukraine to a person who was imprisoned twice?" said voter Petro Zakharov, 47, a Moscow-based lawyer and former military officer who served in Afghanistan during the Soviet era. "I don't hide [the fact] that I voted for Yushchenko, of course. The only one reason I work in Moscow is the necessity to sponsor my daughter's education in Ukraine, but I want to work in Ukraine and believe it will be economically reasonable if Yushchenko wins."

"It's extremely important for Mr. Yushchenko to carry a moral victory rather than an arithmetical one now," said a well-respected observer of the Russian Literaturnaya Gazeta Vitalii Tretyakov during a roundtable at the Alexander-House business center in Moscow hours after Ukraine's nationwide vote. Several other political experts supported this thesis at the meeting.

A total of 2,495 Ukrainians participated in the voting in Russia. Besides Moscow, three more polling stations were located in St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don and Tyumen. The first city to deliver vote results was Tyumen with a turnout of 179 people - 124 of whom were Yanukovych supporters. Of 3,806 voters listed in St. Petersburg's polling station, only 614 voted, and of 5,200 voters listed in Rostov-on-Don, only 349 people came, officials said. Embassy officials could not yet provide the voting results for candidates. More than 13,000 ballots were issued to the four polling stations in Russia.

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