Electoral manipulations and fraud in parliamentary elections: The case of Ukraine

Abstract

This study examines the mechanisms through which the ruling party won a plurality of votes using a combination of legal changes and manipulative practices during the 2012 parliamentary election in Ukraine. Legal changes in electoral rules—the replacement of proportional representation to a mixed system—helped the ruling party weaken the opposition parties. These changes enabled the ruling party to engage in manipulation and fraud during campaigning and on election day by suppressing competition, crowding out the races with “technical” parties and “clone” candidates, and manipulating the composition of electoral commissions. The change of electoral system also enabled outright fraud on election day. A combination of these techniques disrupted both the contestation and participation dimensions of democracy, effectively pushing Ukraine into a state of competitive authoritarianism.