Here’s how the State Dept explained Ukraine electoral fraud: “illegal use of absentee ballots,” “opposition observers ejected,” “North Korean style turnout in the East” (“nearly 96 percent”), “mobile ballot box fraud,” etc.:

Illegal Use of Absentee Ballots:

According to the respected NGO "Committee of Voters of Ukraine" (CVU), massive electoral fraud was committed through the illegal use of absentee voter certificates. For example, people were caught in Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy oblasts with their pockets stuffed with blank absentee ballots that they were using to vote at multiple polling stations.

Opposition Observers Ejected:

Observers from Our Ukraine and other opposition groups were expelled from most polling stations in eastern Ukraine on Election Day. For example, in Territorial Election Commission (TEC) district number 42 in Donetsk oblast, Our Ukraine observers were kicked out of all but a few polling stations.

North Korean-Style Turnout in the East:

Turnout in the pro-Yanukovych eastern oblasts was unnaturally high. In several electoral districts, turnout for the run-off round increased by 30 to 40 percent over the first round. In Luhansk oblast, the reported turnout rate hit nearly 96 percent – a number that, to quote the OSCE, even Stalinist North Korea would envy. A similar turnout rate was reported in Donetsk oblast, where 98 percent of the votes went to hometown candidate Prime Minister Yanukovych.

Mobile Ballot Box Fraud:

In the second round of the election, the number of voters who supposedly cast ballots at home using mobile ballot boxes was double that of the first round. Much of this voting occurred without observers being present and was massively fraudulent. In Mykolayiv oblast, for example, nearly 35 percent of the oblast's voters purportedly cast their ballots "at home."

Computer Data Allegedly Altered To Favor Yanukovych:

There were credible reports showing that that Yanukovych supporters gained illegal access to the Central Election Commission's computer system and illegally altered vote tabulation data being transmitted by TECs to the CEC.

Reports of Opposition Fraud:

Yanykovych’s supporters allege that Yushchenko’s supporters stuffed ballot boxes in western Ukraine. But the reports and evidence of pro-Yanukovych fraud greatly outweighed those indicated for Yushchenko.

Ukraine's Election: Next Steps

Dec. 7, 2004

https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rm/39542.htm