KU political scientist serves on Ukraine election observer team

LAWRENCE -- University of Kansas political scientist Erik Herron observed signs of growing pains of a new democracy in Ukraine in March as an election observer from the U.S. Department of State.

Herron, who has researched national elections in the former Soviet Union, was invited by the State Department to observe the March 31 elections in Ukraine as part of its delegation to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The United States was one of nearly 20 countries, including Russia, sending observers to the Ukraine election, which included both national and local candidates running in 33 political parties. In contrast, when Herron was studying in Moscow in 1989, the Communist Party was the lone political party.

Ukraine has been independent only since 1991. In 1999, Herron studied elections in the region as part of his dissertation research. In 2000, he also researched elections in Moscow and in Kiev, Ukraine's capital, as a member of an National Science Foundation team studying elections in several countries. For the 2002 elections, he was assigned with other observers to districts in the Black Sea port city of Odessa.

Comparing his observations from previous election years, Herron said, "There has been a lot of progress clearly. Some of what I saw raised concerns."

Manipulation of voters was a concern in polling stations at hospitals, prisons, school dormitories and military districts. In a hospital district, Herron and his observer partner from France noticed that the election returns and evidence from other observers suggested that patients might have been pressured to vote for one party. The party received far more votes in the precinct than it did nationwide.

Another concern was the inclination of those waiting in line to vote in a booth simply to mark their ballot while they waited and consult with other voters. Lacking privacy to mark their ballots could influence voters. Herron said that polling stations had booths, but maybe not enough for the number of voters. According to the Central Electoral Commission of Ukraine, 65 percent of the voting population, more than 24 million Ukrainians, voted. Another problem was the potential for voters to obtain a ballot, then sell it.

Despite the large number of parties, only six of the 33 on the ballot gained a substantial number of seats in the national parliamentary election. A number of independent candidates also won seats, Herron said.

Herron said that the proliferation of political parties in new democracies was part of the growing pains for governments that are developing a political party system.

Unlike the United States, elected officials may change parties once in parliament. "Changing parties in the Ukraine is for more common than in the United States," Herron said. "It's a big deal here. But in the Ukraine, parties can also form in parliament and existing parties can splinter into new parties.

"Most parties are very young and their survival rate is low. New parties don't have the organizational capacity or strong ties to voters as in the United States."

The Communist Party of Ukraine retains the best name identification for some older voters, Herron added.

"Having the opportunity to participate in this project is not only good for university research but also it serves to promote free and fair elections all over the world," he said.

The report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on the March 31 Ukraine elections is available online.