2007年VOA标准英语-Potential Ukrainian Election Flaws Identified

By Peter Fedynsky
Kyiv
30 September 2007

Ukrainians cast their ballots² in a special parliamentary election, in which domestic and international observers sought to assure an honest vote. Opposition³ leader Yulia Tymoshenko says she will ask President Viktor Yushchenko to let her form a new government, after an exit poll from Sunday's election shows opposition parties will likely control parliament. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky spoke⁴ with several election monitors and precinct workers who identified some potential flaws in the Ukrainian election process.

Voters at election Precinct 77 in downtown Kyiv include such local residents as former President Leonid Kuchma, composer Alexander Zlotnik and former Prime Minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko. Like most precincts throughout Ukraine, its workers included representatives from each of the country's major political parties to help keep the other side honest.

Precinct Director Hanna Mazmaniam says numerous international observers were also present.

Mazmaniam says visitors included journalists, monitors from Russia, the United States, and the Baltic states.

Oleg Mushenko, a Russian election monitor, has been observing Ukrainian elections since 2003. He says voters and the voting process in Ukraine have matured. Mushenko says campaign advertising⁵ in this country is not as aggressive as before and notes that Ukrainians are voting in a conscientious⁶ manner.

Mushenko says Ukrainian voters today cast informed votes and are not influenced by momentary⁷ events such as mass demonstrations⁸ (on Independence Square) or campaign activities designed to draw votes.

At Precinct 99 in a working class neighborhood of Kyiv, Swedish parliamentarian Tone Tingsgaerd, concurred⁹ with the Russian observer about the increasingly routine nature of precinct voting in Ukraine.

But Tingsgaerd says she is concerned about what happens between the time a ballot¹ is cast and the time it is counted.

"It should be very easy for everyone here to do that," said Tone Tingsgaerd. "If you have been to a polling station you know, 'I was there, I voted for that and that, I know the result at the polling station. I would like to see that now. Where can I find it?' And this we do not have, in this country or any other of the developing democracies."

Tingsgaerd says exit polls could warn of potential fraud, if the final vote count differs substantially from the polls.

But the director of Polling Station 99, Vasyl Shepel, warns that Ukrainian exit polls could be manipulated by those behind them.

Exit polls in Ukraine, says Shepel, reflect what is transmitted to the people. And transmission occurs through the press and television, many of which are in the hands of major political parties.

Several of those parties have indicated readiness to protest Sunday's election if the difference between exit polls and the final tally¹⁰ looks suspicious. Precinct Director Shepel said it may take several days to count ballots in rural areas of Ukraine, which could delay the final result.

1 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

2 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

6 conscientious   

adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的

参考例句：

• He is a conscientious man and knows his job.他很认真负责，也很懂行。
• He is very conscientious in the performance of his duties.他非常认真地履行职责。

7 momentary   

adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的

参考例句：

• We are in momentary expectation of the arrival of you.我们无时无刻不在盼望你的到来。
• I caught a momentary glimpse of them.我瞥了他们一眼。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 concurred   

同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
• So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。

10 tally   

n.计数器，记分，一致，测量；vt.计算，记录，使一致；vi.计算，记分，一致

参考例句：

• Don't forget to keep a careful tally of what you spend.别忘了仔细记下你的开支账目。
• The facts mentioned in the report tally to every detail.报告中所提到的事实都丝毫不差。