KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st March, 2019) The campaign of Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine's top presidential contender, said it had been alerted to over 4,000 violations at the election this Sunday.
"Between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., there were 4,070 violations detected at polling places... Most common complaints are that voters are not allowed to used their own pens, about people missing from the voter lists, deceased people listed as voters, unsealed ballot boxes, not enough ballots," it said on Facebook.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said in its most recent statement it had been alerted to 1,768 electoral irregularities as of 7 p.m. (16:00GMT) and opened 25 criminal cases. The Central Election Commission said it had not registered any serious violations.
Ukrainians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president out of a crowded pool of 39 contenders. Comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been ahead in all recent opinion polls, with incumbent Petro Poroshenko and ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko tied in the second place.
Russia has condemned Ukraine's decision to bar its observers from polling places, which it said undermined the vote's legitimacy and could affect Moscow's decision to accept the outcome. Up to 10 million Ukrainians in Russia and breakaway eastern provinces have been disenfranchised.
