Election winds down. Weekend in Kyiv.

I have this dorky idea that since I was working as an elections observer I shouldn't write much about my feelings regarding the election.  Of course know that no one actually cares what I write about in my personal blog, and given that at the UCCA training meeting one of the individuals on the panel went on an anti-Yanukovich rant, I know UCCA certainly won't be opposed.  Yanukovich will be sworn in on February 25th, and Timoshenko is still promising to challenge the election in the courts.  Certainly I am disappointed that Yanukovich won, but I suppose in terms of politics I'll just keep on posting trivial blips such as interesting campaign ads and leave the political commentary to others.  Who am I to try to make sense of it all?

I was in Kyiv over the weekend for our Fulbright mid-year orientation, and the office organized for us to hear from some Ukrainian analysts their opinions and commentary on the political situation in Ukraine.  We also saw the documentary The Orange Chronicles and had the opportunity to meet the filmmaker.  It was interesting to watch it now, with the Orange fever broken and Yanukovich soon to take over the post of president.  The documentary is a great glimpse at the events and energy of that time - would recommend it to anyone interested in Ukraine, Eurasia or political movements.  

The screening and orientation were also interesting given the number of Fulbrighters who have some tie to Ukraine - many of this year's students and scholars are from the Ukrainian diaspora.  So all though we are mostly a group of Americans sitting around talking about Ukraine, there is a lot going on in these conversations - many of my colleagues have a deep emotional connection to this country.  When we first all met at the orientation in D.C., I was intimidated to join this group, many of which are native Ukrainian speakers and have been following events in the region all their lives.  Now I realize what an opportunity it is to have such these people as my colleagues during my year here.  

In other news, Kyiv is cold and snowy, and I have apparently turned into a winter wimp.

Ballot breakdown

I promise I'll back off the political posts soon.

Voting results by oblast via Korrespondent:

If you click through to Korrespondent's website you can mouse-over for the voting breakdowns.  Blue here stands for Yanukovich and Red for Timoshenko.  The east-west divide here is obvious and not surprising but the breakdowns tell an interesting story as well.  The oblast with the highest percentage of ballots voting against all candidates was Kyiv, with 8.05%.

Also:  Ukrainia has an even better collection of election ads than my Yulia billboards I posted a few days ago.  It would have been interesting to be in Kyiv this weekend.  Timoshenko's block is saying they are ready to do everything to ensure a third round.

Election day

I had another opportunity to observe in Ukraine's election process, this time for the 2nd round of the presidential vote.  It was definitely worth a second go.  Visiting six polling stations in and around Sevastopol, I met a good number of voters, election workers and local observers and got some nice photographs as well.  I am really glad to be one of many observers to say that the polling stations I visited were poster-children for a high school civics lesson.

A closed city during Soviet times and still home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, Sevastopol is a sailor's town.  Almost every long time resident from taxi driver to bartender seemed to be a former sailor, or related to one.

If my experience in the first round had me thinking about how much "Russian" Sevastopol is, this second round I got to see a bit more and move past that simple observation.  I heard people talk about their hopes for the future of their country, had a good number of people offer to speak Ukrainian with me in case I preferred (I didn't, but perhaps someday), and saw representatives of both parties working well together in the polling stations.  I was lucky enough to observe with Jim, someone with a lot of life and work experience in Ukraine, and tried to take his lead in engaging the people we met at the polls to show we were there as part of the democratic process instead of an implicit accusation of fraud.  

The result was a long but rewarding day, and lots to think about on my part in terms of Crimea, Ukraine, and (cornball alert) democracy.  See my Picasa album here.

Of course the vote in the end was not surprising - Yanukovich carried Sevastopol by quite a large margin.  The voting breakdown at our final polling station was:

1190 - Yanukovich (82.8%)
164 - Timoshenko (11.5%)
76 - Against all candidates (5.3%)
7 - void

At a national level, Yanukovich has edged out over Timoshenko by a few percentage points. Timoshenko has yet to concede.

But will it work?

With all the campaign advertising for the upcoming presidential campaign, I've been thinking about making a post about campaign advertisements of the various candidates for months.  With the polls opening in less than 24 hours, I suppose it's now or never in terms of writing this.  

The big "SHE"

In this post I'd like to not talk about politics, but show those of you outside Ukraine some of the campaign images that have been appearing non-stop over the past few months.  As Clifford Levy said this week in the NYT, "Just her name - Yulia! - has become shorthand for her stardom."  But it is not even just "Yulia" but also the pronoun "SHE" that is a symbol of this stardom.  From my arrival in Kyiv, I've been captivated by her simple, streamlined and eye-catching campaign ads, which refer to her only as "SHE."  Apparently among her many politicial advisors are AKPD Consulting, who also worked on the simple, streamlined and eye-catching Obama campaign.  She!  Change!  America!  Ukraine!

Why am I not writing about Yanukovich's campaign?  Well, for one, I did a bit yesterday.  And secondly, it was boring.  "Ukraine for the people."  Yawn.

The Timoshenko billboard campaign had a logical progression of simple statements, starting out with small couplets "They talk, she works."  Everyone knew who "she" was, and no one confused it with other female candidates in the first round field of 18.  Then it became "She works.  She is Ukraine!"  (Pushkin Street, Kyiv) You'll excuse me for any Ukrainian mistranslations, please, as I don't study or speak it!

Not surprisingly, this campaign - which looked amazingly fresh and innovative compared to the tired strategies of the other candidates - soon became a butt of many jokes.  

Below see:

- an ad in Russian for window installation, with the words "She Works" in Ukrainian at the top (near my house in Simferopol)

- An add for a computer store saying "They Work" (Pushkin Street, Simferopol)

- A collection of information about Yanukovich and election day, along with a characature of Timoshenko as a gymnast and the caption in Russian:  "What doesn't she do?  She's working!" (Balaclava)

My favorite joke about her campaign wasn't an advertisement but a mystery billboard that appeared in Kyiv: 

I never saw this myself so I stole this picture from another website.  It says "They're crap, she's all that." (It sounds funny in Ukrainian:  Voni kaka, vona tsya tsya)

As the first round got closer, she laid it on a little thicker.

"She is victorious.  She is Ukraine."  (Near my apartment, Simferopol) That cute little red and black design is a traditional Ukrainian pattern.

.

What could be next?  "Ukraine is victorious!"  Here Timoshenko appears on these ads for the first time, with her traditional peasant braid and an armful of wheat.  Two shots from the Kyiv metro:

Ready for something really dramatic?  "Ukraine is victorious.  Ukraine is you!" (Near European Square, Kyiv)

And a shot of one of the ubiquitous candidate tents, this one for Yulia.  Troieshna, Kyiv.

Unfortunately I haven't got a shot of her most recent ads.  For a round-up of TV spots, check this out.

Election day

By Monday morning, at least in theory, Ukraine's people will have chosen a new president.  There are fears that Timoshenko won't accept loss, accusing Yanukovich of fraud and demanding judicial action, or that either candidate could call supporters to the streets following the results.

I certainly hope for the best for the elections, as the people of Ukraine deserve a fair and calm resolution to these tumultuous months of promises, scandals and advertisement overload.  I prefer to take the optimistic view.  For all of the shortcomings of Ukraine's political system, it is important to remember that this young country has come a long way.  As a resident of Crimea was quoted as saying in a recent BBC article:
"We don't know who our president will be after the election...and that's how we're different from Russia...This is a real democratic step."

Bizim prezidentimiz

 According to a statement by the Mejlis, or Crimean Tatar Parliment, most Crimean Tatars voted for Timoshenko in the first round of the election, then followed by Tigipko, Yushenko, Yatseniuk and Hrytsenko.  The Mejlis voted to support Timoshenko for this round.  


Given that there are around 270,000 Crimean Tatars living in Crimea, it is an important voting block, and one that Yanukovich seems to be not to successful with.

In an attempt to capture some of these votes from Timoshenko, the Yanukovich campaign has apparently printed 70,000 leaflets in Crimean Tatar for distribution in Crimea.  While mud-slinging is certainly nothing new or unique to this presidential election, I was a bit surprised when I read this leaflet online (yes, unfortunately online!  I've yet to get my hands on one). 

Here's a photo of the leaflet from the above news story, and then my partial translation:

DEAR VOTERS!

On February 7th, the 2nd tour of the presidential election will take place.
We will decide who to vote for, Victor Yanukovich or Yulia Timoshenko.  Victor Yanukovich is a very experienced politician and leader.
...
Yulia Timoshenko is a politician who does not fulfill her promises, and is connected with the crisis and lies.  
To vote for her is to bring harm upon yourself.
With her politics, and under her care, Ukraine will be destroyed.
With her, Ukraine sunk into debt.  Each newborn is $1,000 in debt to foreign creditors.


Yanukovich          and       Timoshenko
This is good              and        evil.
This is brightness    and       darkness


Yanukovich is the only candidate who will save us!


YANUKOVICH - OUR PRESIDENT!

The Yanukovich campaign also published some materials in Crimean Tatar for the first round.  The Yanukovich symbol, which has his name and the words "Our President - 2010" superimposed over a map of Ukraine, here reads "Bizim prezident" in Crimean Tatar instead of the "Nash prezident" usually seen in Russian.  Ukrainia dlya lyudei (Ukraine for the people) has become Ukraina halk ichiun.

This is an interesting move.  There are very few Crimean Tatars who cannot read Russian, so printing pamphlets in Crimean Tatar is not an attempt to reach out to voters who haven't been exposed to advertisements.  In fact the NR2 article indicates that many Crimean Tatars are annoyed with the publications since many cannot read the language.  

First Round

This past week I volunteered as an election observer in the first round of this year's presidential elections with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. It was quite an experience, and I certainly don't regret it. I was told that I was free to post pictures and experiences in my personal blog, but will keep my comments limited here because somehow it seems wrong that an independent observer could publish their personal opinions about the election. Feel free to email me if you are curious about my experience and I'll send notes I kept that day, and also some more pictures.

Of course most importantly -observer missions in the country commented that the election was held in accordance to international standards. As expected, neither candidate received a majority of the vote, necessitating a runoff between Yanukovych and Tymoshenko on February 7th.

Some articles about the first round for those interested:

Elections in Ukraine signal important turn on the road to democracy - Christian Science Monitor

Ukraine Elections Go to Russian-Flavoured Runoff – Fears Abound for Crimean Tatar Population - Underrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

Viktor Yushchenko's legacy for Ukraine? Smiling people - Times Online

Ukraine presidential vote headed to runoff - LA Times

Russia ends freeze in ties with Ukraine after election - AFP

Elections in Ukraine - Calm before Storm? - Ria Novosti