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EDITIONS

Ukraine (Presidential)

COUNTRY	ELECTION TYPE	DATE
Ukraine	Presidential	October 31, 1999

At stake in this election:

Description of government structure:

Description of electoral system:

The president is elected directly by the people for a five-year term
The Verkovna Rada consists of 450 seats; half of the seats are allocated on a proportional basis to those parties that gain at least 4% of the national electoral vote and half are elected by popular vote in single-mandate constituencies. All 450 members serve four-year terms.

Results of the election for president:

Presidential Candidate: Leonid KUCHMA
Party Bloc: "Our Choice"
First Round Valid Votes Received: 9,598,672
First Round Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 36.49%
Second Round Valid Votes Received: 15,870,722
Second Round Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 56.25%
Presidential Candidate: Petro SYMONENKO
Party: Communist Party
Valid Votes Received: 5,849,077
Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 22.24%
Second Round Valid Votes Received: 10,665,420
Second Round Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 37.80%
Presidential Candidate: Moroz Oleksandrovych
Party: Socialist Party of Ukraine
Valid Votes Received: 2,969,896
Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 11.29%
Eliminated after First Round
Presidential Candidate: Natalya VITRENKO
Party: Progressive Socialist Party
Valid Votes Received: 2,886,972
Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 10.97%
Eliminated after First Round
Presidential Candidate: Yevgeny MARCHUK
Party Bloc: "Kanev Four"
Valid Votes Received: 2,138,396
Percentage of Valid Votes Received: 7.22%
Eliminated after First Round

When was the last presidential election?

Elections were last held on July 10, 1994
In the last election President KUCHMA received 51.24% of the vote, thereby defeating Leonid KRAVCHUK, who received 45.06% of the vote.

Population and number of registered voters:

Of Interest:

Economic hardship was the primary campaign issue. President KUCHMA's reform program, which led to widespread poverty, was a primary issue of the campaign. His opponents seized on his economic record to attack his credibility.
Another issue in the campaign was IMF involvement in the direction of the Ukrainian economy. KUCHMA defended the use of IMF loans while his opponents promised to curtail them.
The assassination attempt on presidential candidate VITRENKO early in the campaign also became an issue leading to charges that KUCHMA tried to derail the elections.

SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR ELECTION SYSTEMS (IFES)