The 'Popular Referendum' poll held in Donetsk and Luhansk regions on May 4, 2014, shows that local residents have voted in support of Ukraine's territorial integrity and stand for territorial communities' wider authority, the Democratic Alliance Party's press service said on May 5. Participants in the poll were offered to answer two questions: 'Do you support Ukraine's territorial integrity?' and 'Do you advocate territorial communities' wider authority through independent budget and cultural policies in the region?'
Each of the two regions received 100,000 ballots for the poll.
Donetsk region used 93,878 ballots, while Luhansk used 89,560 ballots.
According to the results of the poll, 72.8%, or 68,343 residents in
Donetsk region, and 70.1%, or 72,782 residents in Luhansk region, voted
for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. The share of the pollees who
voted against was 24.75% (23,234 people) in Donetsk region and 26.9%
(24,091) in Luhansk region.
The split of the votes on the second question was the following:
84.79% (79,599) in Donetsk region and 87.7% (78, 544) in Luhansk region
supported the idea that territorial communities should be given more
power in budget and cultural issues. The share of those who voted
against was 2.83% (11,620) and 3.3% (2,956) respectively.
“This ‘Popular Referendum’ poll in Donetsk and Luhansk regions is
more representative and legitimate than the one scheduled by Donbass
separatists for May 11, which will repeat the Crimean scenario conducted
at gunpoint,” ‘Popular Referendum’ co-organizer in Donetsk region
Yevhen Semekhin said.
Democratic Alliance said that the poll had been arranged with the
help of over 100 mobile teams who were moving from town to town in the
two regions. Volunteers faced difficulties and direct threats to their
lives and health.
“They faced threats to life in the town of Antratsyt and the city of
Luhansk. Initiative groups engaged in the poll there were being chased,
volunteers’ photo and video cameras were broken, part of the ballots was
damaged, ‘Popular Referendum’ co-organizer in Luhansk region Volodymyr
Semystiaha said.
The names of ‘Popular Referendum’ organizers in Donetsk regions
Dmytro Tkachenko and Yevhen Semekhin were included in the so-called
‘wanted list’ on the Donetsk People’s Republic’s page in the Russian
VKontakte (vk.com) social network, Democratic Alliance said.
