The 2014 Donbas general elections were held on 2 November 2014 by the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, which were at that time both members of the now defunct Novorossiya confederation.
As a result of a war that started in April of the same year, these internationally unrecognized entities controlled parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine, together called the Donbas region. The elections, the first of their kind since the establishment of either republic, were held to choose their chief executives and parliaments. In the Donetsk People's Republic, incumbent leader Alexander Zakharchenko won the post of chief executive, and his Donetsk Republic party gained a majority in parliament. In the Luhansk People's Republic, incumbent leader Igor Plotnitsky won the post of chief executive, and his Peace for Luhansk Region party gained a majority in parliament.
Neither the European Union nor the United States recognized the elections, which violate the terms of the Minsk Protocol, according to which local elections in the areas occupied by the DPR and LPR were supposed to be held on 7 December, in accordance with Ukrainian law. Russia, on the other hand, indicated that it would recognize the results as legitimate, although Ukraine had urged Russia to use its influence to stop the elections and "to avoid a frozen conflict". Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that the election was an important step needed "to legitimize the [DPR and LPR] authorities". Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov later qualified that the Russian Federation's position of respecting the results of the election does not necessarily mean an official recognition of the results.
In Ukraine as a whole, following the February 2014 revolution, a presidential election had been held on 25 May, and parliamentary elections on 26 October. DPR and LPR authorities blocked these elections in the areas that they control. Those authorities had previously held largely unrecognized referendums on 11 May to approve the establishment of the two Republics.
Background
Donetsk People's Republic
Elections of deputies to the Supreme Soviet of the Donetsk People's Republic, along with elections for the chief executive of the DPR, took place on 3 November 2014. A central election commission was established to organise the election, and prepared 3.2 million paper ballots. People who were at least thirty years old and who "permanently resided" in the DPR in the previous ten years were electable for terms of four years, and public organisations could nominate candidates. No voter lists were used, leading to fears of potential duplicate votes. Internet voting was allowed, apparently so that those who lived outside the territory controlled by the DPR could cast a vote. Internet voting started prior to election day. These internet votes were accepted by email, as long as the voter sent a scanned copy of their passport along with their vote. The election commission set up mobile polling stations, allowing DPR fighters, including non-citizens - Russians and other foreigners in their ranks - to vote. Many polling places in Donetsk offered voters cabbage, potatoes, carrots, beetroot, and onions at below market price, or even for free, in an effort to draw voters. According to DPR, over 360 polling stations were open on election day. According to an article that appeared in The Guardian, most supporters of a united Ukraine had long since left DPR-controlled territory by the time of the elections. The article also mentioned that those pro-Ukrainian people who remained in the region were forced to "keep quiet in an atmosphere of fear, in which those suspected of pro-Kyiv sympathies could be arrested or worse".
Candidates and political parties
Three candidates vied for the position of DPR chief. These were Aleksandr Zakharchenko, Yuri Sivokonenko, and Aleksandr Kofman. Two political parties contested seats in the parliamentary elections: Donetsk Republic and Free Donbas. Whilst the Communist Party of the Donetsk People's Republic had planned to participate in the elections, it was not allowed to participate because it "made too many mistakes in its submitted documents". It endorsed Aleksandr Zakharchenko. Pavel Gubarev and his New Russia Party, along with other parties, were banned from participating because they "were not able to hold a founding conference", had "purported errors in their documents", or had "not notified the central election commission of the conference at which the party had been founded".