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 (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.
Poroshenko became the third incumbent Ukrainian president to directly lose reelection, after Viktor Yushchenko lost reelection in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election and Leonid Kravchuk in the 1994 Ukrainian presidential election. Zelenskyy was sworn in as the sixth President of Ukraine in May 2019.
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 which in this cycle fell on 31 March 2019. The Ukrainian parliament had to approve the date of the presidential election no later than 100 days before the election day which it did on 26 November 2018.
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. Candidates were nominated by a political party, or by self-nomination. Candidates also had to submit a declaration of income for the year preceding the election year. This document was then scrutinized by the National Agency for Prevention of Corruption, which subsequently published the results of the audit. Nominations could be submitted from 31 December 2018 to 4 February 2019. The end of the registration period was 9 February 2019. 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.
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).
By the end of the registration period on 9 February 2019, the CEC had registered 44 candidates for the elections. This meant that the largest number of candidates participated in the elections. In total, 92 people submitted documents to the CEC to participate in the elections. Five candidates withdrew. The CEC refused to register 47 people, most for their failure to pay the deposit.
Candidates could withdraw their candidacy, but not later than 23 days before the election. On 8 March, the CEC approved the final list of candidates. There were a total of 39 candidates for the first round of the election.
Registration denied.
The CEC rejected 47 applications (mostly for failure to pay the deposit of ₴2.5 million) of potential candidates, including:
Campaign.
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. By comparison, in the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election, then winner Viktor Yanukovych spent over $40 million and runner-up Tymoshenko spent $36 million.
During the 2019 Ukrainian presidential election, various Ukrainian television channels supported a candidate for President of Ukraine.
Five groups supported Poroshenko:
Three TV groups were very critical of Poroshenko:
Under the state-owned , was critical of Poroshenko.
Victor Pinchuk's ICTV, Novyi Kanal and STB were neutral.
Debates.
"not DEBATES".
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.
Debates on Olimpiyskyi Stadium.
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. 
Conduct.
Although 34,544,993 people were eligible to vote in the elections, the March 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia and the occupation of parts of Donetsk Oblast and Luhansk Oblast by separatists since April 2014 meant roughly 12% of eligible voters were unable to participate in the elections. The CEC also closed all five foreign polling stations in Ukrainian embassies and consulates within Russia ahead of the vote.
A total of 2,344 international observers from 17 countries and 19 organizations were officially registered to monitor the elections. A record number of 139 non-governmental Ukrainian organizations were registered as observers.
Results.
About 18.9 million people voted in the first round of elections on 31 March, a turnout of 63%. Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Servant of the People (who received 31% of the vote) and incumbent president Petro Poroshenko (16%) advanced to the second round on 21 April.
Exit polls following the second round predicted that Zelenskyy would win with more than 70% of the vote. With only 3% of the votes counted, the CEC confirmed similar preliminary results. Poroshenko conceded the election in a speech soon after polls closed and exit poll data was released. He wrote on Twitter that "We succeeded to ensure free, fair, democratic and competitive elections... I will accept the will of Ukrainian people."
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:
Reactions.
Poroshenko tweeted that "a new inexperienced Ukrainian president... could be quickly returned to Russia's orbit of influence." Some of Zelenskyy's critics 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.
Several European Union nations offered their congratulations and hopes of continued partnerships in the future. British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said that Zelenskyy "will now truly be the Servant of the People." Similar sentiments were expressed by Andrzej Duda, President of Poland, Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Russia's deputy foreign minister, Grigory Karasin, stated that "The new leadership now must understand and realise the hopes of its electors" in both domestic and foreign policy.
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau congratulated Zelenskyy and thanked the Canadians among the observers overseeing the elections. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, called the president-elect to congratulate him and "the Ukrainian people for a peaceful [and] democratic election."
A joint letter of congratulations was issued by both Tusk and Jean Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission. The European Union (EU) leaders stated that they hoped Zelenskyy's victory would speed up the implementation of the remaining parts of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area.
References.
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