During August and the first half of September the Committee of Voters of Ukraine [CVU] carried out an analysis of the normative legal base and monitoring of preparation for the elections in all regions of Ukraine.

1. CVU considers that the amendments to the Law on the Presidential Elections and other laws pertaining to the elections, passed by the Verkhovna Rada,  place the holding of transparent and democratic elections in jeopardy. This primarily concerns:

• Restriction of citizens’ electoral rights
• The creation of vote rigging mechanisms via the possibility of including voters on the list on voting day

• Restriction of public control over the electoral process
• It being made effectively impossible to appeal against infringements and the results of the elections.

2. CVU notes other potential threats to the elections:

• The Constitutional Court could find some provisions in the Law on the Presidential Elections unconstitutional  after they have been applied;
• The State Budget for 2010 not being passed, this meaning that there is no funding for the 17 January elections;
• The lack of legitimacy of decisions from the Central Election Commission due to the participation in meetings CEC member Anatoly Pysarenko, who has reached retirement age.

CVU also notes that the pre-election campaign has effectively begun although some norms of the Law on the Presidential Elections have not begun working, this meaning that the running of the campaign is unregulated and does not contain the necessary restrictions. This in turn restricts equal opportunities for the future presidential candidates.

Most potential candidates made visits to the regions. Those candidates occupying State posts (Lytvyn, Tymoshenko and Yushchenko) presented them as “working trips”, while candidates who are presently National Deputies (Yanukovych, Yatseniuk and Bogoslovska) often visited the regions on dies when plenary sessions of the Verkhovna Rada were taking place.

Initial checking of the Single Voter Register showed up significant failings in the database. Estimates vary from 10 to 30 percent.

On the basis of its monitoring, CVU recommends

1. that the Verkhovna Rada does not await the Constitutional Court’s judgment and rectifies equivocal norms in legislation on the presidential elections, and does this before the beginning of the election campaign.
2. that the Verkhovna Rada carries out the necessary rotation of members of the Central Election Commission so that the legitimacy of this body is not placed in question;
3. that the Verkhovna Rada passes the State Budget for 2010 with funding ensured for the presidential elections;
4. that candidates make public their expenditure on political advertising with an indication of where the money came from.