133. Despite efforts of the election administration to ensure voting throughout the country, polling did not take place in 10 of the 12 election districts in Luhansk region and 14 of the 22 election districts in Donetsk region. This was due to illegal activities by armed groups before, and on, the election day, including death threats and intimidation of election officials, seizure and destruction of polling materials, as well as the impossibility to distribute ballots to polling stations due to the general insecurity caused by these groups (see Chapter V). The majority of Ukrainian citizens resident in these regions were thus deprived of the right to vote. Elsewhere, a few isolated attempts to disrupt voting were reported. 134. The HRMMU followed the participation of Crimean residents in the Presidential elections. Simplified registration procedures were put in place to ensure that residents of Crimea and persons who resettled from Crimea to other regions could take part in the elections. According to the CEC, 6,000 Crimean residents voted on 25 May. Political parties/ Freedom of association 135. On 7 May, several political parties were allegedly banned in Luhansk region by a decision of the “people’s council”, including Batkivchyna, Udar, Svoboda and Oleg Lyashko’s Radical Party, as well as Right Sector. It also inferred “extended powers” on Valeriy Bolotov, the self-proclaimed “people’s governor”. 136. On 13 May, the Kyiv District Administrative Court banned the party Russian Bloc based on the fact that the party leaders had called for the overthrow of the constitutional order and violations of the territorial integrity of the country.60 137. It appears that the Communist Party of Ukraine is coming under increasing pressure. On 7 May, the Communist faction of the Parliament was expelled from a closed-door parliamentary hearing, which was denounced by the Party of Regions faction, allegedly, because of the “separatist” statements by its head, Petro Symonenko. The hearing was reportedly about the security operations in the east. Party of the Regions pointed out that information on these security operations should be made public. 138. On 18 May, former acting President Turchynov called on the Ministry of Justice to review documents gathered by the law enforcement bodies relating to the alleged illegal and unconstitutional activities of the Communist Party of Ukraine aimed at violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, undermining State security and illegal seizure of State power. On 19 May, the Ministry of Justice sent a request to the General Prosecutor’s Office and the SBU to investigate possible crimes by the leadership of the Communist Party of Ukraine. F. Internally displaced persons 139. As of 6 June, the departments of social protection in the Ukrainian regions had identified over 12,70061 internally displaced persons (IDPs)62. However, the actual number of 60 On 15 April, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit to prohibit the activities of the political parties Russian Bloc and Russian Unity in Ukraine. The activity of Russian Unity was banned on 30 April. According to Ukrainian law, a court can ban the activities of a political party upon a request filed by the Ministry of Justice. 94 | P a g e