Residents of two fractious regions of eastern Ukraine began voting Sunday in a controversial referendum over independence from the central government in Kiev.
Separatists opened polls at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. EDT) in Donetsk and Luhansk, despite Russian President Vladimir Putin's call last week to postpone. Ukrainian acting President Oleksandr Turchynov called it an act of self-destruction and "a step into the abyss," the New York Times said.
Voters in Donetsk will answer yes or no to the single question on the copy-paper ballot: "Do you support the act of self-rule of the Donetsk People's Republic?" The ballot in Luhansk asks a similar question.
Voters were unsure if the wording meant a vote for more local autonomy, independence from Kiev or an invitation for annexation by Moscow, as in Crimea, the Times said.
No international observers will monitor the more than 2,900 polling stations in the region, writes the Kyiv Post:
"The slapdash referendum was coordinated solely by volunteers with no prior experience and cost a mere $1,600, according to vote organizers. Nearly $700 of that money went to toner for printers used to create more than three million ballots, they said."
The voter list is two years old and the black and white ballots have no special marks to prevent duplication.
"Okay, it's not really in line with the law, but I think that's the only way out," Roman Lyagin, the 33-year-old head of Donetsk's hastily-established election commission, told Reuters last week.
Writes Andrew E. Kramer of the Times,
"In an indication of the uncertainty surrounding the elections, voting started early Saturday at one school in Donetsk for reasons that were unclear. And after armed men threatened to kill a principal in the Luhansk region who did not want voting at her school, the central government said education officials should not take risks to oppose the polling."
Despite the ad hoc, almost comedic nature of the referendum, the outcome could be deadly serious and officials fear a slide toward civil war. Tensions are high and violent confrontations have flared in recent days. At least seven were killed Friday in the port city of Mariupol in clashes between police and separatists.
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