top
International
International
Indybay
Indybay
Indybay
Regions
Indybay Regions North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area North Coast Central Valley North Bay East Bay South Bay San Francisco Peninsula Santa Cruz IMC - Independent Media Center for the Monterey Bay Area California United States International Americas Haiti Iraq Palestine Afghanistan
Topics
Newswire
Features
From the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Wed Nov 24 2004
Ukraine: Exit Polls Didn't Match Results. Conclusion, Vote Fraud
Similarities Between Ukrainian and US Elections
11/25/2004 The Ukrainian Supreme Court ruled today that election results would not be published as official until it considers an appeal filed by the opposition, which has claimed the vote was rigged.
Great power rivalries erupt over disputed election in Ukraine | Ukrainians show it's not what you do....

11/24/2004 A government committed troops to a war in Iraq under false pretenses. The party in power used its strength to pressure the media to toe the line. Many opposed to the war rallied behind an opposition candidate. Polls showed the opposition candidate ahead and on election day the exit polls confirmed the expected results. But, when the results came in, they didn't match the polls. Allegations were made of irregularities since the party in power was the very party that confirmed the election results and ran the election.

The November elections in the Ukraine and the US bore many similarities, but unlike the US, in Ukraine the opposition didnt take the results lying down. Thousands are now in the streets. There are calls for a general strike and many talk of civil war. Journalists in Ukraine have refused to present election programmes and walked out in disgust at "blatant" attempts to censor their coverage.

The first round of voting in the 2004 presidential election was held on October 31. Since no candidate held a 50 percent majority, another vote was held on November 21 to choose between Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and former prime minister Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych was considered to be more pro-Russian, while Yushchenko was seen as a reformer interested in bringing Ukraine closer to the European Union and the US. In the November 21 runoff, Ukraine's electoral commission declared Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych the winner with 49.42 percent of the votes compared to Yushchenko's 46.69 percent.
From Wikipedia: The election was held in a highly-charged atmosphere, with allegations of media bias, intimidation and even an alleged poisoning of Yushchenko (that resulted in him becoming severely disfigured). Many commentators saw the elections as being influenced by outside powers, notably the United States, the European Union and Russia, with the U.S. and EU backing Yushchenko (sending former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and Senator John McCain to visit with Yushchenko), and Russian president Vladimir Putin publicly backing Yanukovych. In the media the two candidates are contrasted, with Yushchenko representing both the pro-Western Kiev residents as well as the rural Ukrainians, whereas Yanukovych represents the Eastern, pro-Russian industrial laborers.
Strangely, while the US backed Yushchenko against Yanukovych, it was Yanukovych's Party (under current President Leonid Kuchma) that committed troops to Iraq while Yushchenko has vowed to withdraw all US troops from Iraq if elected.
US rejects Ukraine poll result | Democracy Now | United States of Hypocrisy points finger at Vote Fraud in Ukraine | UK Guardian Ukraine Coverage | Havel backs opposition leader's stance
2024-03-20 Victory! EFF Helps Indybay Resist San Francisco Police Warrant and Gag Order Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Media Activism & Independent Media | San Francisco2024-02-09 Catholic Anti-Choice Marchers Get an Earful from Abortion Rights Activists in San Francisco Front Page | Health, Housing & Public Services | Womyn | San Francisco | South Bay | U.S.2024-01-10 Wall of Shipping Containers Intended to Keep the Public Out of People's Park Front Page | Police State & Prisons | Environment & Forest Defense | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | East Bay | California2023-12-08 Largest Ever Pro-Palestine Marches in NorCal Demand End to US Aid for Israel's War on Gaza Front Page | Anti-War | Central Valley | San Francisco | South Bay | Peninsula | U.S. | International | Palestine | Santa Cruz Indymedia2023-10-31 Three Activists Detained at Climate Protest for Crossing Beale Air Force Base Gate Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | Anti-War | Central Valley | California | U.S.2023-09-29 California Climate Justice Actions in Coordination with Massive New York City March Front Page | Environment & Forest Defense | Central Valley | California2023-08-19 Environmentalists Speak Out Against Airport Expansion as Climate Disasters Accelerate Environment & Forest Defense | East Bay2023-08-12 Starbucks Bus Tour Stops in San Francisco, Rallies with Allies to Support Unionization Labor & Workers | San Francisco | Peninsula | California | U.S.2023-07-19 Halt to Fossil Fuel Funding Demanded as Wells Fargo Operations Shut Down Environment & Forest Defense | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | San Francisco | U.S.2023-07-13 Demonstrations Wrack France, Boiling Over After Police Murder of Youth Police State & Prisons | Health, Housing & Public Services | Global Justice & Anti-Capitalism | LGBTI / Queer | International | Government & Elections | Immigrant Rights2023-07-02 A Call for Pride to Return to its Roots as a Riot in Defense of LGBTQ+ Rights Health, Housing & Public Services | LGBTI / Queer | Womyn | San Francisco
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!

Donate

$110.00 donated
in the past month

Get Involved

If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.

Publish

Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.

IMC Network