CORRUPTION IN UKRAINE 2021: UNDERSTANDING, PERCEPTION, PREVALENCE — SUMMARY 1/2

According to the survey of the population, corruption ranks third among the main problems (following the high cost of living and hostilities), the list of which was offered to the respondents –68.6% of the population consider corruption to be a very serious problem. The analysis of data in the dynamics shows that at the end of 2021, compared to the previous research wave, the problem of corruption moved from the second to the third place in the ranking of problems amid rising prices and the expected aggravation of the military conflict with the Russian Federation. According to the survey of the entrepreneurs, corruption ranks second – 73.3% of entrepreneurs interviewed consider corruption to be a very serious problem.

Like in the previous research waves, the respondents (both the population and entrepreneurs) are not quite aware of behavioral patterns which seem to be corruption, but actually they are not corrupt from the point of view of the law, and vice versa. For example, depending on the type of the proposed “projective situation”, 13.3% to 70.7% of respondents consider some cases to be corruption, but they are not, according to the current legislation. Entrepreneurs have somewhat greater understanding (vs. the population) of cases which are manifestations of corruption and which are not.

Speaking about the indicator of perception of the prevalence of corruption in general, then 85.4% of the population and 84.2% of entrepreneurs believe that corruption is somewhat or very common in Ukraine. The general index of perception of the prevalence of corruption on a 5-point scale equals 4.39 points for the public (increased slightly compared to 4.46 points in 2020) and 4.34 points for entrepreneurs (decreased slightly compared to 4.26 points in 2020).

At the same time, the index of perception of the prevalence of corruption in the field where the surveyed entrepreneurs work is 2.25 points on a 5-point scale.

According to the population, the top 3 fields in terms of the prevalence of corruption are the judicial system, customs service, and land relations. They are followed by border control, movement of people and goods across the boundary line with the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas, the activities of the National Police, the SBU and the prosecutor’s office (except for the activities of the Patrol Police, service centers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs), and medical Services.

According to the entrepreneurs, corruption is the most prevalent in the fields of issuance of permits and extraction of minerals, and customs; they are followed by privatization of enterprises, forestry, public procurements, and land relations. Indices of perception of the prevalence of corruption in all these fields exceed 4 points on a 5-point scale.

41.8% of the population and 36.1% of entrepreneurs believe that the level of corruption in Ukraine has increased over the last 12 months. For the population, this indicator is by 15.4% higher than that of the previous year.

Both the population and enrtepreneurs are most likely to consider the central authorities responsible for overcoming corruption along with such specialized institutions as the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and (in case with the population) the National Agency on Corruption Prevention.

According to the population, among the authorities, the President and his Office, the Security Service of Ukraine and local authorities fight corruption most effectively, while the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, and the Verkhovna Rada are the least effective in combating corruption. However, the population evaluates the anti-corruption activity of all governmental bodies below 2 points (“ineffective”).Entrepreneurs evaluate the anti-corruption activities of the State Financial Monitoring Service, the National Police and the SBU the highest, while the activities of the Cabinet of Ministers, ministries, and the Verkhovna Rada – the lowest. Although the entrepreneurs have slightly better opinions about the anti-corruption activities of the authorities than the population, even the highest ratings of entrepreneurs are below 3 points on a 5-point scale…

pdf attached (88 pages)

Summarized indicators of the assessment of corruption experience of the population by field

>>20870956

2/2

The indicators of the corruption experience of the respondents by research field were identified, and corruption situations that could occur when citizens and entrepreneurs applied for services in various fields (or during contacts with representatives of relevant agencies and institutions) were analyzed.

In addition to the analysis of corruption experience, we also analyzed who initiates the corruption situation. In all the analyzed situations, the initiators are mostly the representatives of the party that provides services (government officials, representatives of supplier companies, administrators or specialists of educational and medical institutions, etc.). In general, over the last 12 months, 14.4% of the population of Ukraine and 4.7% of business representatives were the initiators of corruption. At the same time, 25.9% of the population and 12.1% of the entrepreneurs were involved in corruption because they were forced to do so. Thus, routine petty corruption is more than two times more common than corruption in business, and citizens who found themselves in a corruption situation were three times more likely than entrepreneurs to be the initiators of such situations.

The summarized indicators of the assessment of the corruption experience of the population by field are shown in the table below. The public most often go through a corruption experience during their contacts with state or municipal medical institutions. More than half of citizens (55.7%) turn to such institutions during the year. Thus, despite the fact that the level of corruption in health care is lower than in such fields as the activities of law enforcement agencies, construction and land relations, it’s medical institutions where the majority of Ukrainians have corruption experience (39.4% of those who applied for services). So, in general, more than a fifth of Ukrainians (21.9%) went through corruption experience in medical institutions personally or know about such experience from their family members.

The summarized indicators of the assessment of corruption experience of entrepreneurs are shown in the table 2 below. The entrepreneurs contact the state less often than the population and are less likely to encounter corruption situations during these contacts. It is worth noting that the level of corruption is the lowest in the field of tax authorities, while the contacts with it are the most frequent. The fields of construction and land relations, customs, electricity, gas and water supply are in the lead among the most corrupt fields.

The following three fields can be singled out to conduct a comparative analysis of the corruption experience of the public and entrepreneurs:

1) services for connection and maintenance of electricity, gas, water supply and sewerage systems;

2) law enforcement activities;

3) construction and land relations

When resolving the issues with suppliers of electricity, gas and water, the risk of encountering corruption is the same for entrepreneurs and the public. And when dealing with the issues of construction and land relations and when contacting law enforcement agencies, the risk of going through corruption is higher for the population.

In accordance with the Methodology of the standard survey on corruption in Ukraine, 5 indicators of the effectiveness of the state anti-corruption policy were calculated, which are listed in the table below.

There is a gradual increase in the share of the population that has a negative attitude towards manifestations of corruption. In 2021, it reached almost half (49.4%) The share of the population that went through corruption experience (according to respondents’ self-assessment of their involvement in corruption) remains stable – slightly exceeding a quarter (26%)1.

The share of those willing to report on the ==corruption cases decreased in 2020.

However, in 2021, it increased up to 9.8% among the population and to 22.7% among entrepreneurs==. (Hmm Bidan in WH)

15 May, 2024 21:59

Britain against sending Western troops to Ukraine – defense minister

Grant Shapps did not rule out sending former soldiers to train Ukrainians

Putting British or other NATO boots on the ground in Ukraine would not make sense, but there are other ways of helping Kiev, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps has said.

Some officials in Kiev have proposed sending Western military veterans as civilian contractors to train Ukrainian soldiers inside the country in order to quickly raise enough brigades to offset battlefield losses.

“I don’t want to step over that line that puts British, sort of, troops on the ground in Ukraine. I don’t think that makes sense to do. But what I do think is sensible is potentially moving training closer,” Shapps said on Wednesday, speaking to a Telegraph podcast about the situation in Ukraine.

“There may be other models that we could look at. Not something I would want to go into in detail currently,” the defense minister added.

He pointed out that theUK has already trained 65,000 Ukrainian soldierssince 2014, most of them since February 2022, and that London’s commitment to Kiev “is absolutely rock-solid.”

Shapps admitted that the situation north of Kharkov is rather dire for the Ukrainian military and blamed it on “the civilized world” not paying attention. “I think the world took its eye off the ball,” Shapps told the Telegraph, but added,“I think it’s rescuable, at this stage.”WTF

According to Shapps, other “civilized” countries should follow the UK´s lead and send even more money to Kiev, to ensure that Ukraine has all the weapons, training and equipment it needs to defeat Russia.

Earlier this week, Shapps told Times Radio that London saw “no sense at all” in persuading or “strong-arming” Kiev into accepting any peace conditions and “giving up some of their territory” to Moscow.

Boris Johnson, who was the British prime minister at the time, made a similar argument during his visit to Kiev in April 2022, which was seen as crucial in persuading Ukraine to reject a proposed armistice with Russia and continue fighting.

Shapps was appointed defense minister last August.Unlike his predecessorBen Wallace,he has no military experience, having been a printing salesmanbefore entering politics. He has served in a variety of cabinet posts under several Tory governments, from housing and transportation to Home Office and net zero.

(This is crazy Shapps has NO MILITARY EXPERIENCE and he is the British Secretary of Defense! He sounds DAFT.)

• On Tuesday, Shapps maintained that the only way to end the conflict was by inflicting a military defeat on Russia.“I do not think it is plausible at all for [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to win this war,”

• Shapps also indirectlycompared modern Russia to Nazi Germanyby saying that “we have been in this position before in Europeand we will simply not allow that to happen again.” WTF

• “If you give a bully like Putin an inch, he will take a mile. In this case, he will probably take quite a lot, not just Ukraine. I’m not sure he will stop there either,” Shapps added. (Quotes from the guy that has no military experience)

https://www.rt.com/news/597676-shapps-ukraine-boots-ground/

Julie Kelly Discusses Democrat's Push For 'Election Security' As Biden Tanks in The PollsWe all know why.

7:31

https://rumble.com/embed/v4sy4o9/?pub=4

Bradley Devlin Discusses The Hearing On The Weaponization Of DOJ And An Attempted AssassinationEditor of American Conservative

6:07

https://rumble.com/embed/v4sy769/?pub=4

Wednesday, May 15, 20241/2

Non-Citizens to be Removed from Ohio's Voter Rolls Prior to 2024 Election

Wendi Strauch Mahoney 05/15/2024 Source: uncoverdc.com LaRose Ohio

Non-citizens are the focus of Ohio's Secretary of State Frank LaRose's latest initiative to clean up the state's voter rolls. A recent review of the rolls by the Secretary of State's Public Integrity Division and Office of Data Analytics and Archives found, according to a May 14 press release, "137 voter registrations assigned to Ohio residents who have twice confirmed their non-citizenship status to the BMV. Ohio law requires two instances of individuals submitting documentation to the BMV indicating that they are not United States citizens. The individual must also have either registered to vote, updated a registration, or voted in Ohio between the two instances of submitting the required documentation to the BMV."

LaRose stated, "Ohioans overwhelmingly passed an amendment to our state constitution which makes it clear that only U.S. citizens can vote in our elections," said Secretary LaRose. "It is my duty under the law to uphold the constitution, and the legislature has explicitly tasked me with ensuring that only eligible citizens can register and vote. It's important to recognize that some of these registrations may be the result of an honest mistake," LaRose continued.

"These may be well-meaning people trying to pursue the American dream, and communication barriers sometimes result in a registration form being submitted in error. We need to help them get that cleared up before an accidental registration becomes an illegal vote that could result in a felony conviction or even deportation."

To cross-check citizenship data, the Secretary also requested additional access to records held by the Biden administration. The requests include:

• Access to the SAVE database, a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration resource that helps verify citizenship status.

• Access to citizenship-identifying records from the Department of Homeland Security and Social Security Administration databases.

• Federal district court records that disclose individuals disqualified from jury service due to a lack of U.S. citizenship.

Non-citizen voting has become a significant issue ahead of the 2024 election because the U.S. election system makes it challenging to accurately track non-citizen registrations and non-citizen voters. Due to Biden's open borders policies, the nation's borders have been flooded with illegal aliens, with over 10 million people entering the country since Biden took office in 2021—not including the "gotaways," according to True the Vote's published 611 Project.

Ohio Withdrew from ERIC in Spring 2023, Prompting a New System of Maintaining Voter Rolls

The new data analytics team was hired following Ohio's exit from ERIC in the Spring of 2023. LaRose wrote a letter to ERIC on Mar. 6, 2023, proposing reforms in the ERIC system, but his requests were met with resistance. Ohio was the sixth state to withdraw from the ERIC voter registration maintenance system. Since then, LaRose has taken steps to enhance the process of purging illegal registrations from the state's voter rolls. County boards will identify voters whose registrations have been inactive for four years.

Aside from removing non-citizens, a May 2 directive asked counties to engage in a more comprehensive effort to ensure the accuracy of the state's rolls.

Counties are directed to identify alleged illegal registrations by May 21 and must mail notices by May 31. The state's searchable database of inactive voter registrations will also be updated after May 21.

https://www.uncoverdc.com/2024/05/15/non-citizens-to-be-removed-from-ohios-voter-rolls-prior-to-2024-election

>>20871362

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The ongoing review of possible gaps in Ohio's voter roll maintenance program requires counties to cross-reference voter registrations for the following issues:

• Voters who moved but failed to update their addresses in the system. Registrations flagged for cancelation in 2024 were first identified by the U.S. Postal Service's National Change of Address (NCOA) registry in 2020 and have been confirmed inactive for four years.

• Past due removals: The Secretary directed county boards to review registration data for records that may have been previously flagged for removal after the required four-year waiting period. "If the registrations are confirmed again to be inactive and eligible for removal, the boards have been directed to initiate that process. The Secretary of State's Office of Data Analytics and Archive, the first of its kind in the nation, identified this issue as part of an ongoing data integrity investigation."

• Returned acknowledgments: "These new registrations received an acknowledgment notice from a county board of elections that was returned as undeliverable by the Postal Service. By law, the registration must be placed in confirmation status, meaning the voter is notified by forwardable mail that they either need to update the registration or engage in "voter-initiated activity" to avoid cancelation."

• BMV Mismatches: "By law, the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles provides identification records to boards of elections used to verify voter registrations, such as a registrant's name, date of birth, last four digits of a Social Security number, driver's license number and whether the person has been identified as deceased. If any of this information mismatches with a voter's registration, the registration must be put into confirmation status, meaning the voter is notified by forwardable mail that they either need to update the registration or engage in "voter-initiated activity" to avoid cancelation."

LaRose is the first Secretary of State in the country to publish a "Registration Readiness roster." The Ohio Secretary of State's website will list the roster for public review. The website allows Ohioans to check inactive registrations before the removal is initiated. LaRose reassured Ohioans that he is committed to election integrity as a top priority, "These steps should give Ohioans confidence that election integrity is our top priority. The process we're initiating this week is just part of a larger, aggressive effort to ensure Ohio is ready for another high-profile presidential election this fall. We'll have more to announce soon."

In Ohio, a voter's registration status must meet the following conditions:

• The voter was notified no later than Jun. 30, 2020, that they appeared in the NCOA out-of-county database; OR whose notice was returned undeliverable; OR whose BMV records do not reflect voter registration.

• Registered to vote before Feb. 18, 2020

• No voting history since Apr. 28, 2020

• Has not engaged in any "voter-initiated activity" since they received a 2020 notice.

Voter-initiated activity includes voting, updating voter registration, submitting an absentee ballot request form, and signing a candidate or issuing a petition verified by a board of elections. Voters in Ohio should use the following form to update their registrations. Once notified, voters will have until Jul. 15 to update registration or engage in voter-initiated activity. Voters who fail to update their registration will be purged from the rolls on Jul. 22. New voter registration applications must be postmarked 30 days before the election to be eligible to vote in that election.

In another directive from LaRose, counties purged 26,666 registrations from the rolls in 85 counties in September 2023 before the November election, a decision that was criticized as "reckless" in a letter sent by State Rep. Bride Rose Sweeney (D-Westlake). Another 6,524 abandoned registrations were removed in Cuyahoga, Lucas, and Summit counties following the Nov. 7, 2023 General Election. Over 124,000 voters were also removed from the rolls after the 2022 election.

Innovations Ohio also criticized the Secretary of State in an "Ohio's Missing Voters" report published in October 2023. The group attributed the alleged decline (over 3% overall) in voter turnout between 2018 and 2022 to the Secretary's failure to register disadvantaged populations in the state. LaRose took office in 2018.

https://www.uncoverdc.com/2024/05/15/non-citizens-to-be-removed-from-ohios-voter-rolls-prior-to-2024-election