UKRAINIAN ELECTION COMMISSION ANNOUNCES OFFICIAL RESULTS. The Central Election Commission (TsVK) on October 15 announced official results of the September 30 preterm elections, Ukrainian media reported. The Party of Regions won 34.37 percent of the vote (175 seats), the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc 30.71 percent (156 seats), the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc 14.15 percent (72 seats), the Communist Party 5.39 percent (27 seats), and the Lytvyn Bloc 3.96 percent (20 seats).
Out of nearly 39 million eligible voters, 23.3 million people took part in the ballot (62 percent). TsVK Deputy Chairwoman Zhanna Usenko-Chorna told journalists that "there are no legal grounds" to doubt the official election results. Meanwhile, Socialist Party lawmaker Yevhen Filindash told Interfax-Ukraine that some 3.5 million Ukrainians residing abroad were included on the voter lists, significantly influencing the final vote count. The Socialist Party complained about this to the Higher Administrative Court last week, but the court rejected the complaint, reportedly arguing that it does not consider election violations committed before the voting day. It is not clear whether the Socialist Party, which narrowly failed to overcome the 3 percent voting threshold, is going to take any further legal action against the TsVK.
(Fonte: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty)
