[3] On 9 September 2014 Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov announced that Crimean residents "who did not manage to obtain a passport of the Russian Federation" would be able to participate in the elections using their "Ukrainian local registration".
[2] The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) identified a situation of multiple and continuing human-rights violations in Crimea after the start of the Russian occupation.
It found the situation when Russia held its election was marked by persistent intimidation that targeted those who had opposed the annexation "referendum" or were critical of de-facto "authorities", as well as Crimea's Indigenous Crimean Tatar nation, which caused increasing numbers to leave the peninsula.
The intimidation included waves of forced disappearances, intrusive searches, and criminalization of the Crimean Tatars' national body, the Mejlis.
[5]: 41 The OHCHR also noted that the participation of residents of Crimea in Ukraine's parliamentary elections of 26 October were limited by the need to travel to mainland Ukraine to vote, the burden of crossing administrative checkpoints from the occupied territory and back, and the fear of possible reprisals from the so-called authorities.