Mass Turnout in E Ukraine: Yes for Self-Rule

Local Editor

Pro-Russian rebels announced a massive turnout in a vote they held Sunday to split east Ukraine into two independent republics, though Kiev slammed it as a "farce" amid Western fears it could lead to civil war.

Thousands of people queued in front of a limited number of polling stations in the restive provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk to cast their ballots.

Insurgent leaders said that more than 70 percent of the electorate in the two regions - home to seven million of Ukraine's total population of 46 million had slid voting slips into the transparent ballot boxes.

Almost 90 percent of voters in Donetsk Region have endorsed political independence from Kiev, the head of the Central Election Commission of the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People's Republic', Roman Lyagin, announced.
"Counting the ballots proved to be surprisingly easy - the number of people who said ‘no' was relatively small and there appeared to be only a tiny proportion of spoiled ballots, so we managed to carry out counting quite fast. The figures are as follows: 89.07 percent voted ‘for', 10.19 percent voted ‘against' and 0.74 percent of ballots were rendered ineligible," Lyagin told journalists.

In Lugansk region preliminary results have not yet been announced, but the leader of the local "people's front" said only around 5% voted against the "Act of state self-rule of the Lugansk People's Republic."
While there were no reports of violent incidents during polling, tensions remained high amid an ongoing military operation ordered by Kiev against the rebels.
Early Sunday, an isolated clash occurred on the outskirts of the flashpoint town of Slavyansk as militants tried to recapture a TV tower, but polling in the center was unaffected.

Roman Lyaguin, the head of Donetsk's self-styled electoral commission, told reporters that voter turnout across the province was 70 percent six hours before polls were to close at 10:00pm. Lugansk's rebels put their province's turnout at more than 75 percent.
Lyaguin added that results would not be in until Monday, but he already appeared confident that the outcome would be in favour of independence. After the results, he said, "there will likely be a period of negotiation with the authorities in Kiev."

Kiev called the process a "criminal farce" that had no legal or constitutional validity.
It said the vote was "inspired, organized and financed by the Kremlin."
Western nations backing the Ukrainian government also dismissed the regional "referendums."
They were "null and void," French President Francois Hollande said on a visit to Azerbaijan.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team