- By RFE/RL
This ends our live blogging for July 21. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage of Ukraine's parliamentary election and what it means for the country.
Ukrainian voters sent a resounding message by choosing a political outsider as president three months ago. Now it appears they’re doubling down on that same message: we want change. Here are five things you need to know about today's vote.
KYIV – Ukrainian voters have spoken — yet again — and their message is loud and clear: they want change.
Three months to the day after comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s landslide election victory upended Ukrainian politics, his political party continued the trend, as it appeared to score a decisive win in the country’s snap parliamentary vote on July 21.
Pledging to crack down on corruption, fix the struggling economy, and end the Russia-backed separatist conflict in the country’s east, Zelenskiy’s Servant Of The People party — named after the television series that catapulted him to fame — is on track to win 44 percent of the national vote, according to the exit poll published just after voting concluded.
The poll was released as the Central Election Commission reported that 50 percent of ballots in party-list voting had been calculated. Final official results, which will include single-mandate constituencies, will be published later in the week, though no dramatic changes are expected.
Here are five takeaways from the vote.
- By RFE/RL
Zelenskiy Celebrates Win For His Party In Ukraine's Parliamentary Election, Wants New Face For Prime Minister
Holos is a brand-new political party, and it tallied only 6.3 percent of the vote, according to initial exit polls. But it's shaping up to be a potential kingmaker, in terms of building coalitions in parliament, and shaping a new government.
Crimeans wanting to vote in today's parliamentary election had to endure the inconvenience of a lengthy journey onto the Ukrainian mainland. That includes traversing the border checkpoints that now separate the Russian-occupied Black Sea peninsula from the mainland. One woman, who gave her name as Lyudmila, said it was worth the effort and that she was voting "for Ukraine's future, for a future in the European Union, for Ukraine's future in NATO, for the emancipation of Crimea, for the victory of Ukraine."
- By RFE/RL
Anecdotal evidence from reporters around Ukraine suggested a low turnout among voters in today's parliamentary election. The latest figures from the Central Election Commission, however, show 50.09 percent of voters casting ballots, as of 9 p.m. local time. That's in the same ballpark as the last parliamentary election in 2014, when 52.42 percent of voters cast ballots.
This is how supporters of Holos reacted after exit polls showed the upstart political party on track to get 6.3 percent of the vote in today's Ukrainian election. That means the party will officially enter parliament, and it's widely predicted to be a potential coalition partner with the Servant Of The People party, of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
- By Current Time
Current Time is holding a special election broadcast of the Ukrainian parliamentary election, with live feeds from all the parties' headquarters in Kyiv. Russian translation is provided for the speeches in Ukrainian.