Polls in Ukraine closed on Sunday evening with actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy expected to hold a commanding lead in the first round of the country’s presidential elections.
With 11% of the ballots counted early on Monday, Volodymyr Zelenskiy had more than 29% of the votes. The incumbent president, Petro Poroshenko, was in a distant second place followed by former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko with about 17% and 14% respectively, the national elections commission said. The results were closely in line with a major exit poll.
With no one expected to secure a majority, a runoff with the leading two candidates will be held on 21 April.
As the results of exit polling were announced, a cheer erupted at Zelenskiy’s headquarters in a sleek lounge in Kyiv. The candidate was mobbed as he made his way to a stage to say thank you to his supporters.
The vote could see a comedy actor with no political experience move a step closer to becoming the country’s next president.
Zelenskiy, who plays the president in the television series Servant of the People, is expected to win Sunday’s vote in a rebuke of the country’s leadership.
He is up against Poroshenko, the incumbent who made a fortune from his chocolate empire, and Tymoshenko, the former prime minister running as an anti-corruption firebrand.
As Sunday’s exit polls were released, Poroshenko and Zelenskiy’s campaigns quickly went on the attack.
“I am going to destroy him,” Mikhail Fyodorov, Zelenskiy’s head of digital strategy, said of Poroshenko. “He’s a marauder.”
Poroshenko, speaking to supporters in Kyiv, said that he understood from the polls that Ukrainians were frustrated but called on them not to support Zelenskiy.
“Fate has pitted me against Kolomoisky’s puppet,” declared Poroshenko, referring to a Ukrainian oligarch who has business dealings with Zelenskiy. “And we won’t give Kolomoisky a single chance.”
Tymoshenko released some exit polls that showed she had taken second place and called on her supporters to be vigilant against voter fraud. “I call not to accept exit polls as the final truth,” Tymoshenko said, saying the polls had been “manipulated”.
“I ask you to go to the polling stations and defend the result down to the last one … Fighting for each protocol,” said Tymoshenko.
Polling stations across the country had opened at 8am, sometimes with spreads of ham and cheese laid out for voters. Some of the people manning the polls began the day with rousing renditions of the national anthem while other Ukrainians congratulated each other about the “holiday of democracy”.
Others seemed daunted by the task of voting. Thirty-nine candidates were taking part in the first-round elections and the ballot was as long as two arms outstretched. “It’s just a circus,” muttered one man looking over two tables covered with one-page biographies of the candidates.
Zelenskiy’s dark horse campaign is largely counting on high turnout among younger voters eager for change in the country and disappointed with stalled reforms and a sluggish economy. Five years ago, Ukrainians overthrew their president in anti-corruption street protests. Many feel that the promises of the revolution have not been fulfilled.
“I was on the Maidan [Kyiv’s central square] because I wanted something different for myself and now for my daughter,” said Maria Tischenko, a consultant, who went to a local school to vote with her husband, Svyatoslav, and three-year-old daughter. “I haven’t seen anything real change and I do think that [Zelenskiy] is a fresh face at least.”
“I know he doesn’t have much experience but that is not the most important factor,” said her husband. “The professional politicians are corrupt.”
Others said Zelenskiy’s lack of experience would endanger a country facing a war against Russian-backed separatists in the south-east.
“It’s not the time to be choosing a comedian to be president and it’s not a joke, it is really dangerous,” said Mykhailo, 48, who declined to give his surname.
He said he had voted for Poroshenko: “He isn’t given enough credit for the things he has done well. He is leading us through a war.”
The highly contested campaign has sparked fears of vote-buying and other tricks at the polls. Police reported several hundred violations by 1pm on Sunday but there were no reports of major falsifications or violence at the polls by early afternoon. Typically the most fraught moments come later in the evening, when the votes are tallied.
Zelenskiy’s campaign has embraced its reputation as unorthodox, holding comedy shows rather than traditional rallies and eschewing regular interviews with press. On Sunday, it opened its headquarters in a Kyiv lounge blasting music and advertising a ping-pong tournament with a chance to play Zelenskiy as the prize.
Sviatoslav Yurash, 23, an adviser to the campaign, said the campaign was confident of a first-round victory based on widespread disappointment with the president.
“The basic message that everyone is tired of the political elite is popular with all age categories, not just young people,” he said.
He added that he wanted to see Poroshenko knocked out in the first round. “I am extremely disappointed,” he said. “I would like to see Poroshenko disgraced and not enter the second round.”
