Live Blog: Parliamentary Elections In Ukraine

Via Ukraine's Central Election Commission -- with 54% of the vote counted:

Party of Regions: 35%
Batkivshchyna: 22%
Communist Party: 15%
UDAR: 13%
Svoboda: 8.5%

Via Ukraine's Central Election Commission -- with 49% of the vote counted:

Party of Regions: 35.06%
Batkivshchyna: 21.95%
Communist Party: 14.92%
UDAR: 12.87%
Svoboda: 8.31%

Whatever the outcome of the #Ukraine election, interesting to see four (or more?) genuinely independent parties getting seats. Not #Russia

— Daniel Sandford (@BBCDanielS) October 29, 2012

#Ukrainevotes. PoR & Communists doing better that in exit polls, esp in constituency seats: could be trouble ahead! bit.ly/ezyPbW

— The EIU EEurope Team (@TheEIU_EEurope) October 29, 2012

The OSCE will hold a press conference at 2:30pm local time on the election monitoring mission in Ukriane. We will embed the live video here.

Via Ukraine's Central Election Commission -- with 46% of the vote counted:

Party of Regions: 35.15%
Batkivshchyna: 21.9%
Communist Party: 14.94%
UDAR: 12.87%
Svoboda: 8.26%

Via Ukraine's Central Election Commission -- with 43% of the vote counted:

Party of Regions: 35.35%
Batkivshchyna: 21.71%
Communist Party: 15.01%
UDAR: 12.88%
Svoboda: 8%

Official election results as of ~30 minutes ago:

Party of Regions: 35.72%
Batkivshchyna: 21.49%
Communist Party: 15.14
UDAR: 12.80%
Svoboda: 8%

As you can see, the results are divergent from last night's exit polls, with the Party of Regions and Communists doing better, and every other major party down a bit. The exit poll averages from last night:

Party of Regions: 29.96%
Batkivshchyna: 23.77%
UDAR: 14.33%
Svoboda: 12.49%
Communist Party: 11.74%

And....we're back.

It's Monday morning in Ukraine, and we are shutting down this live blog for the day. On turnout estimated at just below 60%, here is how the main parties faired according to exit polls conducted by five different organizations (read full wrap up):

Party of Regions: 29.96%
All Ukrainian Union "Fatherland:" 23.77%
UDAR: 14.33%
Svoboda: 12.49%
Communist Party: 11.74%

Keep in mind that these exit polls are only for districts voting on party lists, which represent half of the seats in parliament. The other half come from majoritarian districts, from which exit poll numbers are just beginnning to trickle out. Readers can find a detailed explainer on Ukraine's system here.

There were numerous complaints of fraud (link in Ukrainian) both from political parties and non-partisan observers, as well several reports of alleged cyber attacks against observer web sites, political sites, and even the web hub of President Viktor Yanukovich's Party of Regions (some video samples here and here). We expect statements from observer groups tomorrow.

Thanks to all who helped (especially our colleagues at Radio Svoboda in Ukraine), contributed, and -- most importantly -- read this blog.

Finally, for those of you who somehow missed it, a panda votes: