OSCE: Zelensky's poll ‘blurred the separation’ of state and political party

“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy introduced opinion polls at polling stations on election day, funded by his party and related to his administration’s policy initiatives, which appeared to create an undue political advantage and,” Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Head of the ODIHR LEOM, said at online press conference of international observers from the OSCE ODIHR, where preliminary conclusions on local elections in Ukraine will be presented.

As noted, people working for President Zelenskyy’s ‘opinion poll’ had a visible presence outside the majority of polling stations visited; their presence was in most cases passive, but in some cases they approached voters prior to voting.

As reported, Ukrainians could participate in the nationwide poll, initiated by the President, on the local elections day.

Ukrainians were asked to answer questions related to introducing life imprisonment for large-scale corruption, creating a free economic zone in Donbas, reducing the number of Verkhovna Rada members to 300, legalizing medical cannabis, and raising the issue of the use of security guarantees defined by the Budapest Memorandum at the international level.

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