The Public Press-Center for reports about violations in the elections created

Public press-center “Local elections-2010. Facts, violations, trends”

All information about the results of observation

Kyiv, 9 Yaroslaviv Val, (subway station “Zoloti Vorota”), conference-hall (1 floor)

For the first time, local elections are held separately from parliamentary. This may attract more public attention to the election of local authorities. However, a large number of simultaneous elections, no elections in the capital where main media are located – these are the factors that contribute to dispersal of attention, especially at the national level.

Public access to full information about the election process and coverage of most important or typical facts of violations can prevent unpunished use of administrative resources and other forms of electoral fraud and violations.

Public access to full information about the election process and highlight the most important facts or the model can prevent abuses unpunished use of administrative resources and other forms of electoral fraud or irregularities.

The first violation started even before the local elections, with the adoption of amendments to the law, through non-compliance of procedure and establishing limitations for the electoral rights of Ukrainian people. The reports about violations and threats are already received from members of the Central Election Commission, public observers, voters, journalists, PACE reporters. We perceive such trends as attempts to restore the Soviet tradition of “manual” control over social processes. If these violations have a systemic character, it will distort the results of free democratic will expression.

We can prevent such threat through mutual public exchange of information.

The public press-center “Local elections-2010. Facts, violations, trends” aims at detailed informing about:

• course of the election campaign,
• key issues and trends,
• evaluation of experts and observers,
• violations and attempts to use the administrative resources
• positive and negative aspects of local election campaigns

The public press-center “Local elections-2010. Facts, violations, trends” is organized by the Civic Assembly of Ukraine, with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation.

Activities of the press center include:

1. Weekly press-conferences of participants of the Consortium of NGOs that observe the elections (on Thursday). Such topics will be covered

Election technologies: manipulations and black PR

use of administrative resources

threat to elections: hot spots

2. “Election Day” on Sunday, October 31, with the highlight of latest information from the regions about the course of voting and results of local exit-polls, as well as a short summary briefing on the first results on Monday, November 1.

3. Press-conferences informing about the course of election and providing information from observers, including regional experts, with video and photo materials.

Source: Civic Assembly of Ukraine

Contacts: Andriy Kohut, project manager 0636179705, Yaryna Yasynevych 0636286869, assembly@gau.org.ua