Sociologists point at bad organization of commissions' work in Kyiv, high turnout at elections

Sociologists who are conducting the national exit-poll at the extraordinary presidential election in Ukraine have said that the voter turnover is rather high, in particular, in Kyiv.

They said that the work of the commissions is organized badly and there some difficulties in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

"It was said that the turnout will be high. The facts I've personally seen today in Kyiv confirm this assumption," Director of the Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives fund Iryna Bekeshyna said at a press conference on Sunday.

She said that the organization of work of the election commissions was very bad and the reason is that there are fewer commission members than it is usually at the elections.

Bekeshyna paid attention that due to the high turnout of voters there are long lines at many polling stations. It is stuffy in the premises where the elections are being held and time is needed to cast votes.

The associate expert of the political and legal programs of the Razumkov center Darina Sokolova said that there are serious problems at polling stations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions which are under control of armed forces. She said that there are polling stations which do not have ballots. The situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions is unstable.

The expert also said that around 1200 on Sunday sms messages with the alleged preliminary results of exit-polls were sent. The abbreviation of a company which allegedly conducted the exit-poll looks like the national exit-poll. Sokolova said that the national exit-poll does not have relations to the said sms messages.

A PR specialist and assistant of director of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology Tetiana Piaskovska also said that there are long lines at polling stations and the work of election commissions was organized badly.

"The problem of large cities is very long lines, crowds and the very bad organization," she said.

Piaskovska said that the exit-poll error could grow to 3.5%. She also said that due to the difficult situation in Donetsk and Luhansk regions the poll is conducted using a phone interview.

She said that the rest of the things are on schedule.

Head of the Levada analytical center (Moscow, Russia) Katerina Kozarenko also pointed at the not good organization of the elections, despite the positive factor of the high turnout of Ukrainian voters.

"How this will affect the results of the exit-poll is unclear," she said.

Another representative international institutions, sociologist and head of Research Institute for New Americans (RINA) in the United States Sam Kliger said: "We in America believe that these elections are historic ones."

He said that long lines, crowds and stuffiness at polling stations is bad on one hand, but there is a positive thing in this, as it means that the activity of voters is very high.

Kliger said that at least 70% of voters in Kyiv came to polling stations.

Head of the supervisory board of the National Exit-Poll 2014 Project Ihor KOhut said that he does not have grounds doubting objectivity of those who are conducting the exit-poll.

Kohut said that at some polling stations, in particular, in the capital of Ukraine, over 50% of voters cast their votes and this is a very positive fact.