Kyiv, October 24, 2014 – A team of 105 volunteer observers from the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America will monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections in Ukraine. This was said by Tamara Olexiy, Andriy Futey and Rino Domeniko, the head of UCCA mission and UCCA vice-president and UCCA lead observer, respectively, during today’s press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. They will be deployed on Election Day to seven regions of the country, mostly in the south and east of the country, and will also monitor select foreign polling stations. The UCCA expects a fair and transparent election that expresses the will of the Ukrainian people.
The UCCA is primarily composed of American citizens, most of whom are of Ukrainian descent. They are all volunteers who have donated their time and money to support Ukraine’s democratic transition. “They all are coming at their own expense, and no one pays us or compensates their travel expenses,” stated Domeniko.
The UCCA praised the efforts of the Ukrainian government to ensure free elections, noting that they have been pleased by balanced media coverage and government transparency in the run up to the crucial elections. “The Central Election Committee has done a great job of putting this election apparatus together,” said Futey. In addition, the government has not interfered in media coverage or the election process thus far. “It has been an encouraging situation to see how the democratic process has developed in a fair and transparent manner so far,” stated Domeniko.
UCCA hopes that the elections this Sunday will follow in the footsteps of the presidential election that was conducted in May. “In May we had a very fair, transparent, and open process,” stated Olexiy. “This would be a success if this election was held the same way.” Futey also stressed that the UCCA will be releasing real time data on Sunday through a web-based system, and urges those interested in the elections process to track their data.