Use of personal websites is nowadays absolutely common. First of all, personal websites help to distribute necessary information; secondly, they are a direct source for receiving feedback from website users, which is important during an election campaign. Among the FPP candidates of Kharkiv Oblast, the most active users of personal websites are, after all, the people's deputies of Ukraine.
Personal Websites in Red
Indeed, Alla Aleksandrovska, People's Deputy of Ukraine of the 6th convocation, candidate for People's Deputy of the Communist Party of Ukraine in the election district 170, has a personal website (http://www.alla.kharkov.ua/); the colour scheme is done in red, and stylistic features of the Communist Party of Ukraine are used. The website architecture is divided into 4 components telling the biography and views of the candidate, the 2012 election, and personal forum. On the website, there is a list of polling stations in the election district 170 and a detailed map of borders where the district ends. The highest activity is recorded on the personal forum of the candidate, where Alla Aleksandrovska answers questions of voters. Forum statistics looks like this: total number of messages — 719, number of topics — 188, number of users — 8,613.
Another representative “in red” is the FPP candidate in the election district 173 Denys Breslavskyi, of the political party UDAR of Vitalii Klychko (http://breslavskiy.com.ua/). His website is also made in red and informs the visitors in detail on political activities of the candidate, his biography, and personal details — address of residence and telephone number.
Resource Capacity of the Party of Regions
Dmytro Sviatosh, the candidate for People's Deputy of the Party of Regions in the election district 170, people's deputy has been active on his personal website (http://svyatash.org/). Indeed, the website is constantly updated with information of various kinds aimed at familiarising voters with the events which Dmytro Sviatosh was involved in — usually, regular openings of kindergartens and sports and playgrounds within the electoral district 170. It is interesting that on the website, there are links not only to the popularised pages in Facebook and Twitter social networks but also to the very rarely used Google+ network and information page about Dmytro Sviatosh on Wikipedia.
One of the most informative websites is a personal website of the FPP candidate of the Party of Regions in the electoral district 174 Oleksandr Feldman (http://feldman.org.ua/), a people's deputy. The personal website was created and launched back in 2006. On the website, in addition to general and political information about the candidate, information about the interest of Oleksandr Feldman is also posted, and the list of publications of the people's deputy in various periodicals is shown.
On the website, there are also links to other websites — the Institute of Human Rights and Prevention of Extremism and Xenophobia, and Oleksandr Feldman Foundation. When going to the latter, there is a message saying that this resource is temporarily under construction and contains a link to the Facebook page. If to explore the news archive, the first publication on the website says 23 January 2007.
Surprisingly informative turned out to be the personal website of the FPP candidate of the Party of Regions in the electoral district 173 Anatolii Denysenko (http://denisenko.kharkov.ua/), deputy of Kharkiv City Council. In addition to already common sections on the biography, political activities of the candidate, and the latest news on the website of Anatolii Denysenki, there is the Online Reception section. In fact, it looks like a usual feedback form but the title is nice. Moreover, on the website, there is another kind of feedback — the questionnaire “Do you support the idea of holding a competition Best Yard?” Also, on the website of Anatolii Denysenko, quarterly reports on the activities of Anatolii Denysenko as a deputy of the City Council are published.
Another representative of the Party of Regions at the parliamentary election 2012 is Valerii Pysarenko — a FPP candidate in the electoral district 168, people's deputy (http://www.pysarenko.com.ua/ru/biography/). Like of all the mentioned representatives, the website architecture consists of information on the biography, and activities as a People's Deputy and a candidate for People's Deputy in the electoral district 168. In addition, on the website, there are various questionnaires — for example, “Which oblast do you reside in?” or “Which party do you belong to?” as well as links to various social networks, and Valerii Pysarenko's blog on Korrespondent.net. Moreover, the website offers to leave an email address to receive the latest news, perhaps on the activities of Valerii Pysarenko. The website was created in 2009.
Listers Are Also Using Internet Technologies
In addition to FPP candidates, candidates for People's Deputy who are on the party lists also have own websites. Indeed, Arsen Avakov — former Governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Manager of the Electoral Campaign of the United Opposition Fatherland in Kharkiv Oblast — is number 24 on the party list. His personal website tells about activities of the opposition forces in Kharkiv Oblast. However, the most interesting element of the website still is a personal forum where visitors — future voters — can leave their comments and suggestions. Indeed, as for 6 October, there were 1,910 users registered and 145,437 messages written. The website was developed in 2007. Another feature that distinguishes this website is the fact that opinion pieces which are published in various periodicals are immediately posted on the website. The same is with opinion publications published — they can be downloaded online.
Nowadays, personal websites have become unfailing aids in overcoming the language barrier between candidates for People's Deputy and voters. In the modern way of thinking, personal websites are equally essential as mobile phones or other innovations of the modern world. Of course, in terms of electoral self-presentation of candidates for People's Deputy, it is important for their personal websites to have maximum of informative content and significantly distinguish from each another.
Reference:
Civic monitoring conducted by OPORA - is a type of network activity, aimed at impartial assessment of the preparation and conduct of elections, as well as preventing violations through comprehensive civic action. Professional monitoring at all stages of the election process indirectly influences the quality of the campaign. The public opinion, both foreign and domestic is formed through gathering and spreading of information among the target audience.
From a strategic perspective public monitoring of elections focuses upon improving the system and certain procedures.
In 2012, during Parliamentary elections in Ukraine OPORA is carrying out a large-scale campaign of long- and short term observation, organizing a statistical vote-count by the results of voting with the proportional component of the electoral system on a basis of representative selection, will provide 100% coverage of polling stations by observers in separate single-mandate majoritarian districts. OPORA observers will work in all 225 electoral districts, and 3,500 activists will join them on the voting day. Organization will use the latest means of spreading information on observation results, including infographics and interactive maps.