An election day snapshot: balloting in Cherkasy Oblast (04/02/06)

An election day snapshot: balloting in Cherkasy Oblast

by Zenon Zawada
Kyiv Press Bureau

TALNE, Ukraine - The Cherkasy Oblast was a wild card in the 2006 parliamentary election.

Our Ukraine had won it in the 2002 elections, but Oleksander Moroz and his Socialist Party of Ukraine were always popular among its rural inhabitants, which make up 46 percent of the oblast's population.

In the town of Talne, with a population of more than 16,000, the wide spectrum of political views in Ukraine's heartland oblast was apparent.

The Ukrainian Weekly's Kyiv Press Bureau interviewed 12 voters who named seven different parties they were supporting. Some were less known, while others were notorious.

"I will vote for the Communists," said Valentyna Vitkivska, 54. "During Soviet times, we didn't live too badly. I educated myself. I obtained a free apartment and a free education."

It was very common for family members or married couples to be split in their political leanings.

Kin Horholov, 68, said he chose the Socialist Party because he trusts Mr. Moroz, who isn't beholden to business interests.

His wife, Raisa Horholova, 65, voted for the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc because she believes the former prime minister is an educated, thoughtful woman who did a lot for Ukraine during her months in office, particularly for its children.

"Ms. Tymoshenko endured a lot and had many obstacles in her job," Mrs. Horholova said. "I admire this woman for going through these trials, overcoming them and still wanting to help the people."

Olha Mytsyk, 49, said Ms. Tymoshenko was trying to change things around, but the Yushchenko government didn't allow her to realize her goals.

"I would like to see her back there again," she said.

Volodymyr Kovinia, 47, worked his whole life in the mines and factories of the Donbas, living in the city of Alchevsk. He visited Talne, his hometown, to vote for the Party of the Regions.

"I remember how we started to live better when [Viktor] Yanukovych became prime minister," Mr. Kovinia said. "Before him, [Viktor] Yushchenko was prime minister, and I remember how we lived. It was much worse. Mines started closing and there wasn't work."

Mr. Kovinia said he is already collecting his pension.

He believes Mr. Yushchenko falsified the 2004 elections instead of Mr. Yanukovych.

Considering how many more people live in the Donbas than western Ukraine, he said he couldn't imagine how Mr. Yanukovych could have possibly lost the presidential race.

At the polling station situated on the second floor of Talne's Boarding School, voters said they experienced no problems. Lines weren't very long, about five minutes on average and 15 minutes at most.

Three voting booths, constructed with a few strips of plywood and draped with blue and yellow curtains, were able to accommodate the 860 voters expected throughout the day.

No one complained of inaccurate voter lists, and no one said they had trouble with the five ballot lists for five different elections: mayoral, city council, district council, oblast council and the Verkhovna Rada.

In fact, the only complaint was that the voting room was a bit stuffy, a much preferable situation to the cold polling stations reported in other parts of Ukraine.

For a while, the district election commission had only 14 members, said Vera Chmyha, its director. During the last week however, the commission was able to bring membership up to 18 members, who worked as long as it took to tally the votes.

The stipend for working election day increased from $3.40 during 2004 elections to $10 this year, Ms. Chmyha noted.

The Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc triumphed in the Cherkasy Oblast, winning the support of 38 percent of the oblast's electorate.

So why was Ms. Tymoshenko so popular among Cherkasy residents?

"Like a good housewife, she's ready to take on any task," said Ludmyla Knysh, 34.

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