OPORA assesses the election day as having passed relatively calmly. However, problems of an organizational nature and procedural violations by commission members were identified.

The violations are characteristic throughout the country and concern the addition of voters to lists on election day, insufficient funding and logistical support for election commissions, weak preparation of their members, which as a result affected the decision-making process of election commissions. This problem is linked to the inaction of the Verkhovna Rada, various court decisions made in recent days, and the lack of detailed explanations from the CEC on this matter. During the second half of December – early January, CEC Resolutions regarding the grounds for voting outside polling stations were repeatedly challenged. Also, the application of the legal norm on adding voters to the list on election day is inconsistent.

OPORA calls on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to put an end to the uncertainty on this issue before the second round of voting and to amend the law, clearly explaining the procedures and order of adding citizens to voter lists on election day.

OPORA is satisfied that voting outside polling stations in the first round was conducted without systemic violations that candidates had repeatedly alleged. The court decision prevented numerous accusations of election result falsification or disclosure of the secrecy of the vote.

The procedure for voting at home must be urgently explained by the CEC within the next two weeks, before the start of the second round. Otherwise, precinct election commission members will continue to arbitrarily interpret legal norms and violate the law itself.

OPORA recommends that the Central Election Commission prepare explanatory notes for precinct election commissions regarding the most common problems at polling stations that arose during the day of voting. Conclusions regarding the most common violations and their possible resolution will ensure uniform application of the law during the second round throughout the territory of Ukraine.

Additional information on the day of voting

The course of the election campaigns took place within the time frames according to current legislation. Campaign materials were mostly removed one day before the day of voting. Exceptions are the placement of materials on billboards, in the stylistic design of candidates or political forces, using slogans that became recognizable during the campaign. Overall, no significant cases of campaigning on election day were recorded.

Opening The lack of quorum and incompetence of election commission members led to a delay in the opening of about one third of polling stations. Only 74.9% of polling stations opened on time at 8:00 a.m. (in accordance with Chapter 10 of Article 75 of the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of the President of Ukraine"), 24.1% - 15-20 minutes later, and 1% - after 8:30 a.m. Cases were also recorded where voting began with a delay of more than 2.5 hours.

In addition, 2% of polling stations did not comply with the procedures provided for by law during their first session. OPORA observers recorded unsealed ballot boxes at 1% of polling stations.

Voting Overall, the voting process passed calmly. Problems arose for election commission members who had not received the decision of the Kyiv Administrative Court of Appeal on the eve, which determined the grounds for voting outside polling stations. Thus, citizens who wrote applications for voting at home by the end of 20:00 on January 16 were included in the extract from the voter list. 1,061,231 voters of Ukraine received the right to vote outside the polling station. However, the number of voters who, according to some candidates' estimates, wanted to vote at home (about 10%) was significantly exaggerated.

One of the biggest problems of the day of voting is the quality of voter lists. For the first time in Ukraine, lists were formed based on data from the State Voter Register. OPORA concludes that the register still requires additional clarifications during voting in the second round. According to information from OPORA observers, commission members added voters to the list on election day, which is a violation of the law. Mostly such a decision was made single-handedly by the commission chairman. Cases were also recorded where the voting process at a polling station was interrupted for the commission to adopt a collegial decision.

Closing and vote counting Observers of the Civic Network OPORA recorded premature closure of election commission work (before 20:00) at 20.7% of polling stations, 76.5% - precisely within the time frames defined by law, 2.7% - between 20:00 and 20:30, 0.2% - later than 20:30. According to OPORA observers at 1003 polling stations, during the day of voting 2.2% of voters were added to the extract from the voter list.

According to OPORA observers at 1003 polling stations, during the day of voting 2.2% of voters were added to the extract from the voter list.

The vote counting procedure was fully observed at 89.2% of election commissions. At 4.7%, commission members encountered attempts to obstruct participation in the vote counting process.

88.9% of observers fully trust the voting results at the polling stations where they had the opportunity to work during the day

Quick vote count of the Civic Network OPORA

This year, the Civic Network OPORA is conducting a quick statistical vote count in the Ukrainian Presidential elections. The quick count provides a preliminary assessment of the results of the national vote, based on actual voting results at polling stations selected by random sampling throughout the territory of Ukraine. OPORA will coordinate monitoring at 1003 polling stations by receiving information (phone calls or SMS messages to the call center) from observers regarding voter turnout, voting results, and the presence of violations on election day. This information will be entered into the corresponding database. The results of the quick count will be published the morning after election day.

Goals of the quick count

The quick count is a method of quickly obtaining voting results and monitoring the quality of the election process. It helps citizens assess the quality of the election process, regardless of reports from official government sources. It also allows assessing the activities of bodies and institutions responsible for organizing elections during the voting, counting, and information processing process.

The quick count method is not new and has been used during elections, however, groups of civic activists began actively using it since the 1990s to publish alternative voting results. This mechanism is used in elections worldwide, for example in such democratic countries as Indonesia, Romania, and Mexico.

A properly applied quick count can help:

1. Identify problems and trends on election day across the country as a whole 2. Prevent manipulations during vote counting 3. Provide correct counting results when there are attempts at manipulation 4. Increase public trust in official results, provided they coincide with quick count data.

The quick count is based on the results of observation of the voting process during election day and the vote counting after polling stations close at the selected number of polling stations.

During this year's Ukrainian Presidential elections, CSO OPORA is the only among civic organizations that, in addition to long-term election observation, will also conduct a quick count. It is extremely important for the public to have access to counting results presented by an independent, unbiased source, as this helps citizens assess the openness of the election process in the country.

The process of quick statistical counting by the Civic Network OPORA

To select polling stations for the quick statistical count, we used geographic, statistical, and random sampling.

The sample consists of 1003 polling stations. This number is sufficient to show the result for Ukraine with high representativeness. The first step in developing the sample is calculating the percentage of polling stations in each region. For example, if Odesa has X percent of polling stations, then there will be X percent of the sample there.

Then we use these ratios to determine how many polling stations will be in each region. Thus, based on geographic data, we ensure representativeness at the regional and national levels. When we know the specific number of polling stations in each region, using random sampling we select only those where observation will be conducted.

This is how OPORA makes decisions regarding where individual observers must travel to monitor the election process. Sometimes the required polling station is located many kilometers from their place of residence, so most OPORA observers will not vote.

OPORA observers work as journalists

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine does not grant Ukrainian civic organizations the right to observe the course of presidential elections. CSO OPORA and other civic organizations defend this right, since national monitoring is part of Ukrainian election law and international standards for fair elections.

The VRU did not adopt amendments to the Law of Ukraine "On Elections of the President of Ukraine" that would ensure national public observation, so observers from CSO OPORA were present at the territory of selected polling stations as journalists – representatives of our newspaper "Tochka Opory." OPORA will continue to defend the rights of local observers to monitor elections in accordance with international documents signed by Ukraine.