It seems Ukrainian election clerks are made of pretty stern stuff and are not easily swayed by the dark side of the force. Mayoral candidate Darth Vader turned up to try and vote in local elections in Odesa today, but officials wouldn't let him do so due to invalid personal documentation. (He couldn't produce a passport in the name of Darth Vader.) Police were also unhappy with the way the Sith Lord parked his vehicle outside the polling station (natural sound, no subtitles):
It seems a polling station in the northeastern Sumy district lacked voting booths, so the locals had to improvise -- they built make-shift booths with curtains instead.
The Ukrainian branch of the Interfax news agency is reporting that an elderly voter in Kherson has written an official appeal, offering to sell her vote in exchange for turning on the heating in her home.
Observers from the Committee of Voters of Ukraine have explained to the woman that her appeal is illegal and may be punished by law.
In other news, here's an update on the flight situation:
Direct flights between Ukraine and Russia have been grounded as new sanctions initiated by Kyiv came into effect.
Flights stopped on October 25, after last-minute crisis negotiations between the two sides failed.
Kyiv announced late last month that it would ban flights by Russian airlines in reprisal for Moscow's March 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Russia called the ban "madness" and said it would mirror the move.
Tens of thousands of passengers will be affected by the bans every month.
They will now be forced to take longer, more expensive routes via third countries, or to brace themselves for a 13-hour trip by train.
(AFP, the BBC, TASS)
The Ukrainian civil network Opora has created a map of violations during the elections. So far, the organization has noted 960 violations, ranging from illegal campaigning to bribing voters and manipulating ballots.