Report

On Sunday, April 21, 2019, a Canadian delegation to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA), led by the Hon. Hedy Fry, P.C., M.P., and composed of the Hon. Michael MacDonald,Senator, the Hon.MaryAnn Mihychuk, M.P., Mr. David Christopherson, M.P., Mr. Kerry Diotte, M.P., Mr. Wayne Easter, M.P., Mr. Jim Eglinski, M.P., and Mr. James Maloney, M.P., participated in an election observation mission that monitored the second round of the presidential election held in Ukraine. The delegation was accompanied by Mr. Matthieu Boulianne, Secretary of the Association.

A. The Election Observation Mission in Ukraine   

The OSCE PA stipulates in its mandate to promote and monitor democratic elections. To this end, it leads Election Observation Missions across its 56 country members. Canada participated in the runoff Presidential Election in Ukraine on April 21, 2019.

The OSCE election observation mission in Ukraine was a common endeavour, involving the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE PA, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) and the European Parliament (EP). The mission was deployed at the invitation of the Government of Ukraine, pursuant to commitments made by all OSCE participating states.

On election day, 690 observers from 44 countries were deployed, including 629 long-term and short-term observers deployed by the ODIHR, as well as a 33 parliamentarians and staff from the OSCE PA, 19 from PACE, and 9 from the EP. Voting was observed in over 2,300 polling stations. Counting was observed in 264 polling stations across 112 election districts.

B. Activities of the Canadian Delegation   

On Friday, April 19, the delegation received a security briefing provided by Drew Evans, Readiness and Security Program Manager, Canadian Embassy in Ukraine, and Rouslan Kats, Counsellor, Political and Public Affairs, Canadian Embassy in Ukraine.

Canadian delegates attended ODIHR briefing sessions for parliamentarians on Saturday, April 20, in Kyiv, Ukraine. As this briefing was the second was a repetition from the briefing three weeks prior, the panel discussions were condensed, and the focus shifted to the legal framework, mass media and social media and the two candidates. In conclusion, the session ended with ODIRH going over the process for election-day reporting and statistical analysis.

The delegation met with H.E. Roman Waschuk, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine on the evening of April 20 for a dinner reception.

On election-day, delegates observed several aspects of the election process, including:

• the opening of a polling station in the morning;
• the voting process in a number of polling stations throughout election day;
• the closing of a polling station and the vote count in that polling station;
• the transfer of election material to the District Election Commission (DEC) and handover at the DEC;
• the processing of election materials and the tabulation of results at the DEC.

Delegates reported regularly on their observations throughout the day by completing observation report forms at each polling station visited and submitting them to their assigned long-term observers.

C. Preliminary Findings and Conclusions   

As no candidate had won the required absolute majority in the first round of voting on March 31, 2019, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Ukraine called a second round between Volodymyr Zelenskyi and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko for April 21, 2019. 62.1 per cent of Ukrainians came down to the polling stations to exercise their democratic right to vote. It is important to note that as with the first round of election, Ukrainians living inside the Crimean peninsula, more specifically in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, could not participate in this election or had major obstacles to overcome in order to cast their vote.

Canadian delegates noticed that the election was held in a competitive fashion and that the fundamental rights of freedom were respected for the citizens of the country.

Polling stations were again well organized, transparent and efficient with proper procedures generally adhered to. A peaceful and respectful climate reigned on election day throughout the nation of Ukraine. Canadian observers each witnessed between 15 and 20 polling stations, including the special exercise of opening and the closing of the stations.

The full preliminary report, prepared jointly by the OSCE PA, ODIHR, PACE, EP and NATO PA missions, is available in English at the following site: https://www.osce.org/odihr/elections/ukraine/417821

Respectfully submitted,