It is referendum day in east Ukraine for the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic.” The West and Ukraine claimed the referendum is illegal and neither will recognize the vote. Russian President Vladimir Putin even asked the pro-Russian forces to delay the vote.
The ballot asks people one question and it does not mention Ukraine or Russia: “Do you support the act of state self-reliance of the Donetsk People’s Republic?”
However, people are not totally sure exactly what “self-reliance” means. According to The Independent, there were some people who thought it meant a completely independent Donetsk republic while others said it means greater autonomy within Ukraine.
The referendum was quickly put together and the ballots printed on regular paper without any watermark to prevent fraud. In fact, over 100,000 ballots marked YES were found in a trunk of a pro-Russian car on Saturday. There are also no international observers or voter rolls at the polling stations.
Journalists on the scene are documenting the referendum on Twitter. David Blair with The Daily Telegraph asked about a voters’ roll to stop multiple votes and was told, “People are too decent for that.” Mike Giglio with Buzzfeed found many pro-Ukrainians were not voting because they view the referendum as fake.
Christopher Miller at The Kyiv Post warned journalists to be careful after armed men told journalists at two polling stations to stop filming and taking pictures. He then reported several journalists were taken and one was tied to a chair and beaten.
Here are a few pictures of the referendum.
100s of people are still waiting for their turn to vote in #Mariupol. This is the only voting st on 100k left coast pic.twitter.com/BDk8Bh4pNQ
— Petr Shelomovskiy (@stopnarcotics) May 11, 2014
Donbass residents lining up to vote in on Moscow, via @myrevolutionrus: pic.twitter.com/9wA045JVfc
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 11, 2014
#Slovyansk: turnout <30%, absent wave of voters in next hours,but lines/enthusiasm in the morning, @cjchivers reportspic.twitter.com/mHyvJfHeVj
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) May 11, 2014
#Luhansk province: Portable self-rule referendum ballot boxvia @reuterspicturespic.twitter.com/5OQaUji7jb
— Maxim Eristavi (@MaximEristavi) May 11, 2014
Huge crowds at polling stations in #Donetsk. No order, total chaos. Referendum organizer Mikhail sweating profusely. pic.twitter.com/Wr7wtUrIwz
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 11, 2014
Line about two blocks long at this Donetsk polling station. Most of them appear to be voting “da” for independence pic.twitter.com/0U9GOh8C5h
— Clarissa Ward (@clarissaward) May 11, 2014
Almost all ballots visible in boxes are marked “Da.” But seemingly low turnout, even in rebel capital, muddy result. pic.twitter.com/7DTflftpcN
— C.J. Chivers (@cjchivers) May 11, 2014
Someone voted “nyet!” (Ballot top-centre): pic.twitter.com/u9YRTaS8FE
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) May 11, 2014
RT @crusoes 15 armed men arrived and stopped referendum in Krasnoarmeysk. Very tense. People shouting. pic.twitter.com/M8sTOaf8SJ
— Paul Sonne (@PaulSonne) May 11, 2014
More armed men came. Took over local admin ‘to prevent provocations’. Say fr ‘Dnepr Batallion’. People pretty furious pic.twitter.com/BDTzZcpwbL
— Simon Kruse (@crusoes) May 11, 2014
A woman at a Donetsk polling station drops two ballots into box, shot by @mattmcgarry pic.twitter.com/8U7zlDitaR #Ukraine
— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) May 11, 2014
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