Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 March 2019. As none of the 39 candidates on the ballot received an absolute majority of the initial vote, a runoff was held on 21 April between the top two vote-getters, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a television personality, and Petro Poroshenko, the incumbent president. The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced that Zelenskyy won the second round with 73.22% of the total vote[1] (or 74.96% of the valid vote). The elections were recognized as free and fair by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.[2]
Background
According to Ukrainian law, the election of the President of Ukraine must take place on the last Sunday of March of the fifth year of the term of the incumbent president[3] which in this cycle fell on 31 March 2019.[3] The Ukrainian parliament had to approve the date of the presidential election no later than 100 days before the election day[3] which it did on 26 November 2018.[4][5]
Candidates
According to Ukrainian law, a presidential candidate must be a citizen of Ukraine who is at least 35 years old, can speak the (state) Ukrainian language and has lived in Ukraine for the last ten years prior to election day.[3] Candidates were nominated by a political party, or by self-nomination.[3] Candidates also had to submit a declaration of income for the year preceding the election year.[3] This document was then scrutinized by the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption, which subsequently published the results of the audit.[3] Nominations could be submitted from 31 December 2018 to 4 February 2019.[3] The end of the registration period was 9 February 2019.[3] After a potential candidate provided the required documentation to the CEC, this body had five days to register the candidate or to refuse to do so.[6]
Candidates were required to pay a nomination deposit of ₴2.5 million (approx. US$90,000); only the two candidates that progressed to the second round of voting would get this deposit back (the other deposits would be transferred to the state treasury).[3]
By the end of the registration period on 9 February 2019,[3] the CEC had registered 44 candidates for the elections.[7][8] This meant that the largest number of candidates participated in the elections.[9] In total, 92 people submitted documents to the CEC to participate in the elections.[7] Five candidates withdrew.[10][11][12] The CEC refused to register 47 people, most for their failure to pay the deposit.[13]
Candidates could withdraw their candidacy, but not later than 23 days before the election.[3] On 8 March, the CEC approved the final list of candidates.[14] There were a total of 39 candidates for the first round of the election.[15][16]
Shevchenko had declared his intention for candidacy on 13 November 2018, but also stated he would not participate in the elections if a new candidate appears who "better meets the requirements."[17] He submitted documents to the CEC for registration as a presidential candidate on 31 December 2018 (which was also the first day of the electoral campaign).[18]
In October 2017, Kaplin had already stated his intention to take part of the election as the leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine.[20] But the legal chairman of this party was Illia Kyva.[21] He filed documents to the CEC for registration as a presidential candidate on 3 January 2019.[22]
Skotysyk filed documents with the CEC 3 January 2019 for registration as the Agrarian Party of Ukraine's presidential candidate.[24] But the next day the Agrarian Party stated he had been expelled from the party the previous September for "actions that harm the authority and discredit the governing body of the party and the party as a whole".[25]
Civil Position nominated Hrytsenko as a candidate on 11 January.[28] His candidacy is supported by the European Party of Ukraine, Native Land, Alternative [uk] and Wave [uk].[29]Andriy Sadovyi and Dmytro Gnap withdrew their candidacies in a bid to support Hrytsenko. On 5 March, Hrytsenko said he was in talks with five other candidates (Smeshko, Koshulynskyi, Dobrodomov, Bezsmertnyi and Kryvenko) on joining forces in the election.[30]
Businessman and former People's Deputy of Ukraine (1998–2002)
On 21 May 2018, Balashov released a video on his official website titled "Will Balashov Run for President?" in which he asks the audience if they're "capable of raising money" for his campaign, yet doesn't say whether he will participate in the election.[31] On 19 September 2018 he clearly announced his intention to run on behalf of his party 5.10.[32]
Candidate for the Opposition Platform — For Life alliance.[37] His nomination was announced on 17 November. Because Opposition Platform – For life was not yet registered as a party in January 2019 it could not nominate him as a presidential candidate.[38]
In October 2017, Tymoshenko announced that she intended to participate.[40] On 20 June 2018 she officially declared that she would take part in the election.[41] On 16 March fellow candidate Serhiy Taruta pledged his campaign team would support Tymoshenko, however, his name was not taken off the ballot.[42] She was endorsed by the Peasant Party of Ukraine.[43]
Nominated by Opposition Bloc – Party for Development and Peace (the recently renamed Industrial Party of Ukraine) on 20 January 2019.[46] Vilkul had been already nominated by his party Opposition Bloc on 17 December 2018.[47] But a Ukrainian court ruled three days before (in response to a lawsuit filed by People's Deputy of Ukraine for OB Serhiy Larin) that OB's congress at which Vikul was to be nominated could not "reorganize the party by any means".[48] On 18 December 2018, the website of OB stated that therefore all the decisions made at the congress were invalid.[49]
Speaker of Verkhovna Rada (parliament) of Ukraine twice: July 2006 to September 2007, and previously in 1994–1998, ex-leader of the Socialist Party of Ukraine
Kyva was nominated by his party on 3 November 2018.[51][21] At the time of nomination he was also an advisor to Interior Minister Arsen Avakov.[citation needed]
Taruta was nominated by Osnova on 22 September 2018.[56][57] He withdrew from the running on 16 March to support Yulia Tymoshenko, however, his name will feature on the ballot.[42]
Yulia Tymoshenko called for Yuri Tymoshenko's registration to be annulled because they share the same surname and initials, which could confuse voters.[77][78] On 6 March, two individuals were arrested for attempting to bribe Yuri Tymoshenko to withdraw from the elections.[79]
In July 2018, the deputy head of Poroshenko's parliamentary bloc announced that an election campaign team had been formed for Poroshenko, and that it was very likely that he would participate in the elections.[81] Poroshenko announced his participation in the elections on 29 January 2019.[82] Serhiy Krivonos withdrew his candidacy in support of Poroshenko.[83]
Ukrainian political analyst journalist and public figure.[86][87]
Candidate in the 2012 Ukrainian parliamentary election. At the time of registration, Petrov was under house arrest and being investigated for alleged harassment of a female student.[88]
The CEC initially refused to register him on 2 February because a point in his election manifesto was interpreted as "encroaching on Ukraine's territorial integrity."[90] After making corrections to his manifesto, he resubmitted documents and was registered.
Andriy Sadovyi: Mayor of Lviv; his party Self Reliance announced on 3 October 2018 that Sadovyi was its candidate in the election.[92] The CEC registered Sadovyi as a candidate on 8 January.[23] In February Sadovyi talked about withdrawing his candidacy in favour of supporting Anatoliy Hrytsenko as a united candidate from "democratic, anti-corruption forces".[93] He made the decision to withdraw on 1 March and declared his support for Hrytsenko.[10]
Dmytro Gnap: Journalist;[94] Gnap was nominated by the party Power of the People on 20 January,[95] and became a registered candidate on 8 February.[91] He withdrew from the election on 2 March, also in favor of Anatoliy Hrytsenko.[11][96]
Serhiy Krivonos: veteran of the War in Donbass;[35] Krivonos was nominated by the party Soldiers of the Anti-Terrorist Operation and subsequently registered by the CEC on 5 February.[73] On 6 March he announced that he was withdrawing from the elections to support incumbent president Petro Poroshenko.[83]
Yevheniy Murayev: People's Deputy of Ukraine; on 10 January 2019, Murayev's party Nashi nominated him for president.[97] The CEC registered his candidacy on 15 January.[27] On 7 March he pulled out of the election in favor of Oleksandr Vilkul.[98] He also announced that Vilkul's Opposition Bloc and Nashi would soon merge.[98]
The CEC rejected 47 applications (mostly for failure to pay the deposit of ₴2.5 million) of potential candidates,[13] including:
Petro Symonenko: Leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine. His nomination was announced at the party's congress on 1 December 2018.[99] Legally the Communist Party of Ukraine is not banned, but the Ministry of Justice is allowed to prohibit it from participating in elections.[citation needed] The CEC refused to register him as a candidate on 2 February because the statute, name, and symbolism of the Communist Party of Ukraine did not comply with 2015 decommunization laws.[13]
Nadiya Savchenko: People's Deputy of Ukraine and Hero of Ukraine.[100] Savchenko was nominated by her party on 26 January 2019.[101] Her bid to become a candidate was rejected by the CEC on 7 February because she failed to pay the deposit and her party didn't stamp the document regarding her nomination.[102]
Potential candidates who declined to run
Andriy Biletsky: People's Deputy of Ukraine and leader of political party National Corps; nominated by his party on 20 November 2018.[103] Biletsky later said that he had no intention of participating in the "farce" of a presidential election.[104]
Oleh Tyahnybok: Chairman of the party All-Ukrainian Union Svoboda. On 14 October 2018, he announced that he would not be running for president and that the party had instead decided to nominate Koshulynskyi as the candidate of Ukraine's nationalist political forces.[52]
Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, lead vocalist of the rock band Okean Elzy. At the end of January 2019, Vakarchuk released a video in which he announced that he would not be running for president.[108] Vakarchuk has said he does not back any of the candidates.[109][110] According to an early March 2019 poll by sociological group "RATING" 64% of the electorate would have liked to see Vakarchuk among the presidential candidates.[111] On 27 March 2019, Vakarchuk posted a video on his Facebook page calling on Ukrainians to think seriously about voting, and not to vote "for a laugh"; this was met with a response by the campaign team of presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who Vakarchuk's comments appeared to be directed towards.[112]
Analysis of candidates by the Ukrainian NGO"Chesno" found that Poroshenko had the largest campaign fund (₴415 million, about $15.4 million), followed by Yulia Tymoshenko with ₴320 million, Zelenskyy with ₴102.8 million, and Serhiy Taruta with ₴98.4 million.[115] By comparison, in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, then winner Viktor Yanukovych spent over $40 million and runner-up Tymoshenko spent $36 million.[115]
During the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, various Ukrainian television channels supported a candidate for President of Ukraine.[116]
As a part election coverage, private Ukrainian TV channel ZIK decided to create a series of debates from 19 February until 28 March day every week. The channel broadcast a total of 7 episodes with 29 out of 30 invited candidates.
"Espreso: Debates"
As a part election coverage, private Ukrainian TV channel Espreso TV decided to create a series of debates from 1 March until election day every week. The channel broadcast a total of 5 episodes with 11 out of 12 invited candidates.
"The Countdown"
UA:PBC organized a series of debates as a part of political talk show "The Countdown", where they invited 18 top rated candidates according to various polls. According to the format, each episode intended to have 3 candidates and a panel of experts, journalist and fact checkers to oppose the candidates. There total 6 episode, with only 11 out of 18 candidates attending the debates.
On March 31, after the announcement of the results of the exit polls of the first round of the presidential elections of Ukraine, Poroshenko invited Zelensky to a public open debate. On April 3, Zelensky put forward a proposal for an exclusive public debate at the stadium, on which Poroshenko agreed. Poroshenko proposed to hold a debate at the stadium on Sunday, April 14, in order to hold a debate on April 19 on UA:PBC. Zelensky refused and Poroshenko held a press conference in front of voters and journalist alone. At 19:00 on April 19, as previously agreed, the debate between Poroshenko and Zelensky began at Olimpiyskyi Stadium.
National debate
The same day, 19 April, UA:PBC also held a final official debate commissioned by the Central Electoral Commission in the UA:PBC studio. Zelensky refused to attend the debate, leaving Poroshenko alone in the studio.
A total of 2,344 international observers from 17 countries and 19 organizations were officially registered to monitor the elections.[141][142] A record number of 139 non-governmental Ukrainian organizations were registered as observers.[143]
Exit polls following the second round predicted that Zelenskyy would win with more than 70% of the vote.[147] With only 3% of the votes counted, the CEC confirmed similar preliminary results.[148] Poroshenko conceded the election in a speech soon after polls closed and exit poll data was released.[148][149] He wrote on Twitter that "We succeeded to ensure free, fair, democratic and competitive elections... I will accept the will of Ukrainian people."[150]
The below table shows each candidate's share of the valid vote, calculated excluding invalid votes using the results provided by the Central Election Commission:
Poroshenko tweeted that "a new inexperienced Ukrainian president... could be quickly returned to Russia's orbit of influence."[151] Some of Zelenskyy's critics[152] expressed concerns over his close ties with billionaire oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi, doubting whether Zelenskyy would be able to stand up against the country's influential oligarchs and the Russian President Vladimir Putin.[151]
^De jure independent, however on 17 November 2018, Opposition Platform – For Life nominated Boiko for the presidency, but because OPZZh was not yet registered as a party in January 2019 it could not officially nominate him as its candidate.
^Initially agreed to take part, but after Sadovyi announced his candidacy withdrawal, decided to not take part in the debate.
^Initially agreed to take part in the debate, but 3 hours prior to the debate he refused to do so.
^Initially invited, however, on 16 March 2019 he withdrew his candidacy in favour of Yulia Tymoshenko, proceeding to not take part in the debate.
^Initially agreed to take part in the debate, but in the end, he didn't.
^Was invited, but refused to take part due to the biased editorial policy of the public broadcaster and the fact of censorship.[132]
^Was invited, but refused to take part due to the fact that UA:Pershyi debates won't be watched by anyone, due to the unpopularity of the channel.[132]
^Attended, but left the debate a few minutes later, explaining that she came only to debate Zelensky and Poroshenko, declining to answer the questions of experts in the studio.
^Was invited, but refused to take part due to meeting with electors. However, journalist Nataliia Sokolenko pointed out that Zelensky had a concert with his Kvartal 95 in Brovary the same day.
^Was invited, but refused to take part without any explanation.
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