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PP RUEHDBU RUEHSL
DE RUEHKV #0186/01 0331619
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 021619Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9264
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KYIV 000186 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/02/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV UP
SUBJECT: TERNOPIL: FEARS OF FRAUD NOT BORNE OUT IN FIRST 
ROUND PRESIDENTIAL VOTE 
 
REF: 09 KYIV 590 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Colin Cleary for reasons 1.4 (b/d). 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) During a recent visit to Ternopil Oblast in 
west-central Ukraine, campaign officials, NGOs and 
journalists told us that they were concerned about vote 
buying in the oblast during the presidential elections.  PM 
Yuliya Tymoshenko and Party of Regions candidate Viktor 
Yanukovych's campaign directors accused one another of 
compiling lists and soliciting votes for sale from the 
economically depressed villages of the oblast.  The results 
of the January 17 first-round presidential vote, however, did 
not indicate significant fraud, with 72% of the oblast's vote 
split among the top three "orange" candidates.  Yanukovych 
came in fourth with 9.82%.  Experts caution, however, that 
significant fraud would not occur until the second round, 
"when it matters."  The nationalist "Svoboda" (Freedom) 
Party, which won a plurality (34%) of votes in a 
controversial March 2009 local election, saw its candidate 
get less than 5%.  End summary. 
 
Economically Depressed 
---------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Ternopil Oblast in west-central Ukraine is one of the 
smallest in the country.  The capital city has a population 
of 215,000, and the oblast was once an agricultural center 
and home to several large factories.  Since the fall of the 
Soviet Union, its agricultural production has declined in the 
face of competition from imports, and the economic crisis has 
caused many factories to cease production.  Many people have 
lost their jobs, and Ternopil's sizable student population 
(it has four well-respected universities, including President 
Yushchenko's alma mater) is also feeling the effects of the 
economic downturn. 
 
Too Cold to Care? 
----------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Our trip to Ternopil occurred in December immediately 
after the first significant snowstorm of the season, the 
effects of which were visible in the small number of 
political campaign tents that had sprouted en masse in most 
other city-centers throughout Ukraine.  PM Tymoshenko visited 
the city the same day we did, and several buildings bore 
signs that read "Tymoshenko -- our President!," while a few 
others read "Tymoshenko -- NOT our President!"  Her speech in 
the square attracted a moderate-sized crowd (less than 
expected) and also irritated many locals, whose normal travel 
routes (ours included) were disrupted by the road closures. 
She spent a few hours in the capital before proceeding to 
outlying villages to pass out land certificates to local 
residents, according to her local campaign deputy chairman, 
Volodymyr Boyko. 
 
Fraud on Everyone's Mind 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (C) Campaign officials representing the two front-runners 
(Tymoshenko and Regions candidate Yanukovych) expressed their 
concerns to us about the other's efforts to buy votes and 
perpetrate fraud in the upcoming presidential elections. 
Boyko told us about reports of Regions campaign officials 
compiling lists of potential vote-sellers, and worried that 
Regions would be contacting families to arrange such 
transactions.  In order to confirm that these votes are cast 
as required, continued Boyko, voters are instructed to use a 
certain color ink pen to make a certain mark on the ballot 
(for example a circle or star instead of a check mark).  The 
theory goes that the candidate's representatives on Precinct 
Election Commissions (PECs) will be able to tally these votes 
as the ballots are counted. 
 
¶5. (C) Regions campaign deputies emphasized their concerns 
about fraud in the elections -- "no one wants to see an 
election without fraud more than Viktor Yanukovych, having 
had the 2004 election stolen from him."  They spoke of 
Yanukovych's increasing popularity in the oblast and their 
view that Ternopil Oblast voters, once staunchly "orange," 
are fed up with the shenanigans of Tymoshenko and President 
Yushchenko and will come over to Yanukovych. 
 
¶6. (C) Local NGO OPORA's long-term observers relayed 
information they had received about plans to buy votes during 
the elections.  Their focus was on Yanukovych, since 
Tymoshenko was locally popular and had no need to buy votes 
in the oblast.  They added, though, that 40 - 50% of voters 
 
KYIV 00000186  002 OF 002 
 
 
were still undecided and that in the second round many would 
vote "against all." 
 
Insignificant Fraud; Svoboda Drops 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The results from the January 17 first round in 
Ternopil did not indicate significant fraud.  PM Tymoshenko 
received 35.67% of the vote, President Yushchenko received 
26.43%, Arseniy Yatsenyuk came in third with 9.91% and 
Yanukovych received 9.82%.  Nationalist Oleh Tyahnybok of the 
Svoboda Party came in a surprising distant fifth place with 
just 4.89%.  The Svoboda tally is in sharp contrast to the 
34% the party won in March, when Bloc Yuliya Tymoshenko 
(BYuT) refused to campaign.  These results track with the 
scenario of an "orange" constituency that split among various 
candidates, with a modest but growing "blue" vote captured by 
Yanukovych. 
 
Comment:  On to the Second Round 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) International observers agreed that the first round of 
elections passed without major incident and witnessed more 
problems with organization and procedural confusion than 
malicious fraud.  They tell us privately, though, that they 
are still concerned about fraud, particularly in the form of 
vote buying, during the February 7 second round because 
"that's the one that counts."  The poor showing by the 
nationalist "Svoboda" party candidate indicated that, despite 
difficult economic times, its agenda is still only marginally 
appealing to voters. 
TEFFT