IRI to Observe Ukraine’s Parliamentary Elections

Washington, DC – IRI today announced it will send an international delegation to observe Ukraine’s October 26, 2014 parliamentary elections. These elections will see the country choose a new, post-Yanukovych parliament, and are an opportunity for the country to consolidate its democratic gains.

Delegates will travel to Ukraine to monitor voting and ballot counting throughout the country.  Following the voting, IRI will issue a preliminary statement on the findings of the delegation. 

This will be the 10th election IRI has observed in Ukraine since the country’s independence in 1991.  IRI observed Ukraine’s 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007 and 2012 parliamentary elections and the 1999, 2004, 2010 and 2014 presidential elections. 

IRI’s observation of the May 25, 2014 presidential election, led by U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte, found that, “Ukrainians in large numbers went to the polls to elect a new president and move their country past the corrupt and unpopular regime of Viktor Yanukovych.  Despite foreign-inspired violence in the east and attempts in a few places to prevent the election from taking place, Ukraine has chosen a path of democracy and elected their new president in the first round.”

Prior to the election, delegates will be briefed by political party representatives and Ukrainian election officials.  They will also be briefed on the rights and responsibilities of international observers and Ukrainian election law.  Delegates will then be deployed throughout the country where they will observe polling stations and identify and evaluate strengths and weaknesses in Ukraine’s election system, including campaign regulations, the balloting process, vote tabulation and reporting.  

IRI endorses the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observers and Code of Conduct for International Election Observers, and since 1983, through international election observation missions and assessments, has monitored 199 elections in 56 countries.