1999 Ukrainian presidential election
31 October 1999 (first round)
14 November 1999 (second round)
 
Nominee Leonid Kuchma Petro Symonenko
Party Independent KPU
Popular vote 15,870,722 10,665,420
Percentage 57.70% 38.77%
President before election

Leonid Kuchma
Independent

 Elected President

Leonid Kuchma
Independent

Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October 1999, with a second round on 14 November.[1] The result was a victory for Leonid Kuchma, who defeated Petro Symonenko in the run-off.[2]

As of 2023, this is the only time in the history of independent Ukraine when an incumbent president was re-elected.

Electoral system

At the time of election the population in Ukraine was 50,105,600 with 34,017,400 living in cities. The Donetsk Oblast, the most populous oblast, contained the most electoral districts, with 23. The least electoral districts among oblasts were in the Chernivtsi Oblast, which only had 4. The city of Kyiv had 12 electoral districts and Sevastopol - 2. There also was a special out-of-country district available for voters who at the moment of elections were not available to vote in Ukraine.

Registration

There were 32 individuals who submitted their documents for registration as pretenders on candidate to the President of Ukraine. Out of them 19 pretenders were registered with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine to run for presidential elections, the rest 13 were denied in registration.

Registered candidates

Notes:

  • Udovenko and Kostenko initially were denied in registration, but on May 21, 1999 both were registered.

Registration denied

Candidates

All pretenders were required to collect signatures to become candidates. In the process ten pretenders were not able to gather the required signatures, while six were reinstated on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine. Later another two registered candidates withdrew.

Notes:

  • On October 27, 1999 Oliynyk and Tkachenko withdrew from the election campaign.

Kaniv four

Since the summer of 1999 there was a sharp competition among the candidates. Four candidates Yevhen Marchuk, Oleksandr Moroz, Volodymyr Oliynyk (mayor of Cherkasy), and Oleksandr Tkachenko (speaker of Verkhovna Rada) met in Kaniv and called on all candidates to just and honest elections. The "Kaniv Four" had intentions to present a single candidate who would have more chances for success. It however failed to do so and no one else joined them neither. Volodymyr Oliynyk being promoted by Kirovohrad city residents, on October 27 surrendered his candidacy in favor of Yevhen Marchuk, while Oleksandr Tkachenko favored Petro Symonenko (leader of Communist Party of Ukraine).

Conduct

According to historian Serhy Yekelchyk President Kuchma's administration "employed electoral fraud freely" during the election.[3]

Results

In the first round the most oblasts and the out-of-country district were won by Leonid Kuchma. In seven oblasts the top candidate was Petro Symonenko mostly in the centre and south. Oleksandr Moroz managed to become the leader in the more agrarian oriented Poltava and Vinnytsia Oblasts. Nataliya Vitrenko took the peak of the candidate list in the Sumy Oblast.

Candidate Party First round Second round
Votes % Votes %
Leonid KuchmaIndependentKuchma9,598,67236.4915,870,72257.70
Petro SymonenkoCommunist Party of Ukraine5,849,07722.2410,665,42038.77
Oleksandr MorozSocialist Party of Ukraine2,969,89611.29
Nataliya VitrenkoProgressive Socialist Party of Ukraine2,886,97210.97
Yevhen MarchukSocial Democratic Union2,138,3568.13
Yuriy KostenkoPeople's Movement of Ukraine (K)570,6232.17
Hennadiy UdovenkoThe Movement-Reforms and Order319,7781.22
Vasyl OnopenkoUkrainian Social Democratic Party124,0400.47
Oleksandr RzhavskyyOne Family[4]95,5150.37
Yuriy KarmazinMotherland Defenders Party90,7930.35
Vitaliy KononovParty of Greens of Ukraine76,8320.29
Oleksandr BazyliukSlavic Party36,0120.14
Mykola HaberPatriotic Party of Ukraine31,8290.12
Against all477,0191.81970,1813.53
Invalid/blank votes1,038,749–706,161–
Total26,305,19810028,212,484100
Registered voters/turnout37,498,63070.137,680,58174.9
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Notes

^ During the election campaign Kuchma was supported by the Bloc "Our Choice – Leonid Kuchma!"[5][6]

References

  1. ↑ Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 1976. ISBN 9783832956097
  2. ↑ Nohlen & Stöver, p1994
  3. ↑ The Conflict in Ukraine: What Everyone Needs to Know by Serhy Yekelchyk, Oxford University Press, 2015, ISBN 0190237287 (page 87)
  4. ↑ "Official website of the One Family". Archived from the original on 2014-12-19. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  5. ↑ Session of the conference of leaders of political parties of the bloc "Our Choice - Leonid Kuchma!" Archived 2014-09-14 at the Wayback Machine. Ukrinform. 19 November 1999
  6. ↑ Soskin, O. L. Kuchma at power – Ukraine in decline. Institute of Society Transformation.

Bibliography

  • Fritz, D. V. "State-Building: A Comparative Study of Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia". Central European University Press. Budapest 2008. ISBN 9637326995
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