Violations during first round of presidential elections did not influence
Head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Elections and Human Rights' (ODHIR) election mission to Ukraine Ambassador Peter Tejler has said there were violations observed during the first round of presidential elections, but none that put the legitimacy of the vote in question.
We witnessed that there were certain violations of the rules for holding such elections ... All of these violations do not have the strength or sufficient scope to cast doubt on the integrity of these elections, he said at the Kyiv Security Forum on Thursday.
Tejler said the first round of elections was held on a competitive basis with a high voter turnout, adding that most of the 39 candidates were not active during the campaign.
Tejler added that certain candidates campaigned in schools and public institutions, which constitutes administrative resource abuse, but in many aspects the first round of election complied with the law.