2010 Ukrainian Presidential Election

Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 17 January 2010. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, a run-off election was held between Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych on 7 February.

On 14 February Yanukovych was declared President-elect and winner with 48.95% of the popular vote. According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution, the President had to be sworn into office within 30 days of the official declaration of the results.CEC official declaration of the 2010 Presidential election
Central Election Commission of Ukraine Parliament subsequently scheduled Yanukovych's inauguration for 25 February.Update: Yanukovych to be sworn in, rival fights on
, '' Kyiv Post'' (14 February 2010)

On 17 February, the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine suspended the results following an appeal by Tymoshenko. The court suspended the Central Election Commission's ruling that announced that Yanukovych won the election, but did not postpone or cancel his inauguration. On 20 February, Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal.Ukraine Prime Minister Drops Election Challenge
, '' The New York Times'' (20 February 2010)

Summary

Early-vote returns from the first round of the election held on 17 January showed Yanukovych in first place with 35.8% of the vote. He faced a 7 February 2010 runoff against Tymoshenko, who finished second (with 24.7% of the vote).

Analysts predicted a slight advantage for Tymoshenko in the second (and final) round as she was more likely to attract voters from the other 16 candidates who did not proceed to the second round. Yanukovych refused to hold debates with his opponent before the second round of voting, saying Tymoshenko should either take responsibility for every word as prime minister, or go to the kitchen. After all ballots were counted, the Ukrainian Central Election Commission declared that Yanukovych won the election with 48.95% of the vote compared with 45.47% for Tymoshenko.Regular elections of the President of Ukraine 17/01/2010
, Central Election Commission of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc members immediately claimed that there was systematic and large-scale vote rigging in this run-off.Ukraine election: Yanukovych urges Tymoshenko to quit
, BBC News (10 February 2009)

On 10 February 2010, Yanukovych called on Tymoshenko to abandon her protests and resign as Prime Minister. On 9 February 2010, Yanukovych had stated that Borys Kolesnykov was his preferred next Prime Minister of Ukraine. According to him pre-term parliamentary elections will be imminent if the Ukrainian parliament would not work effectively. Yanukovych also stated that, as the largest faction in the parliament at the time, his party was entitled to nominate the premier. On 15 February, Yanukovych stated "I do not rule out the candidature of Tigipko (as next Prime Minister). Tigipko is on the list which, in my opinion, will be discussed next week in parliament".

On 16 February 2010, Ukraine's parliament had fixed 25 February 2010 for the inauguration of Yanukovych as president.Update: Ukraine's Yanukovych to be sworn in on Feb. 25
, ''Kyiv Post'' (16 February 2010) On 17 February 2010, "the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine", suspended the results of the election on Yulia Tymoshenko's appeal.
On 20 February 2010, Tymoshenko withdrew her appeal after "the Higher Administrative Court of Ukraine" rejected her petition to scrutinize documents:

— about 300,000 voters who voted but were not in the "Register of Voters of Ukraine";

— about 1.3 million voters who "without right" voted in their homes;

— about falsification in the election in the eastern regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv region, Crimea, etc.) — fixed by law-enforcement officials.

Tymoshenko stated, "I and my political party will never recognize Yanukovych as the legitimately elected president of Ukraine", and "an honest court will assess that Yanukovych was not elected President of Ukraine, and that the will of the people had been rigged".

Public opinion

Public 2010 Ukrainian presidential election#Opinion polls">opinion polls predicted the Party of Regions and Viktor Yanukovych's win in the presidential election in February 2010. According to an article in '' Kyiv Post'' in November 2009, Yanukovych's popularity in the Donbas was fading and Donbas voters voted mainly for Yanukovych to keep Tymoshenko from power.

Background

In Ukraine, the previous two presidential first-round ballots have traditionally occurred in October.

According to the Constitution of Ukraine, regular elections of the President of Ukraine are held on the last Sunday of the last month of the fifth year of the term of authority of the President of Ukraine. In the event of pre-term termination of authority of the President of Ukraine, elections of the President of Ukraine are held within ninety days from the day of termination of the authority.

Early presidential elections can be held in case of presidential resignation, ill-health, impeachment or death.

The President of Ukraine is elected by the citizens of Ukraine for a five-year term, on the basis of universal, equal and direct suffrage, by secret ballot.

A candidate seeking election must be a citizen of Ukraine who has attained the age of thirty-five, has the right to vote, has resided in Ukraine for the past ten years prior to the day of elections, and has command of the state language as required by Article 103 of Ukraine's Constitution.

On 1 April 2009, the Verkhovna Rada designated 25 October 2009, as the date for the first round of voting. Within a week, President Yushchenko filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court against Verkhovna Rada's 25 October date. The President's appeal argued that his inauguration on 23 January 2005, was the commencement of his five-year term of office and as such the next presidential election must be set for the last Sunday before 23 January 2010, in accordance with Article 103.

On 13 May 2009, the court ruled in Yushchenko's favor, striking out the 25 October date for the elections. On 14 May 2009, the Party of Regions leader Viktor Yanukovych stated that the presidential elections should now be held on 17 January 2010.

On 23 June 2009, the Parliament rescheduled the date for the election for Sunday, 17 January 2010, with 399 lawmakers out of 442 lawmakers registered in the session hall voted "for" the resolution "On appointing of regular election of President of Ukraine".

Minister of Internal Affairs Yuriy Lutsenko said on 21 September 2009 that he believes that the lists of voters at this presidential election will be more qualitative and more "clear" than it was at previous elections because "double names" were removed from the list. The same day the Party of Regions complained about a lot of mistakes in that list and that the number of voters fell in the Southern Ukraine and Eastern Ukraine and increased by 0.5–1% in Western Ukraine.Regions Party worried about numerous inaccuracies in state register of voters
Interfax-Ukraine (21 September 2009) It is the first time the state register of voters will be used in a Ukrainian election.

Law on presidential elections

Ukraine's president is elected by a two-round first-past-the-post voting system. The first round of voting was held on 17 January 2010. As no candidate in the first-round ballot had 50% or more votes the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second-round ballot which was held on 7 February 2010. Victor Yanukovych received the highest vote (48.96%) and was expected to be declared the winner. Under Ukrainian law presidents elect must take the oath within 30 days of the declaration of the poll, which must be made before 17 February 2010.

On 24 July 2009, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) amended the law on presidential elections reducing the official presidential campaign from 120 to 90 days.
Outgoing President Viktor Yushchenko refused to sign the new law and lodged an appeal in Ukraine's Constitutional Court, but failed to outline in detail the grounds for any appeal. The speaker of the parliament, Volodymyr Lytvyn, signed the amended law into existence following the President's refusal to sign it, despite this being illegal.The interns of the Program of Internship at the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and Central Executive Bodies for 2012-2013 learned the procedure of submission and passage of bills in the Verkhovna Rada
, Verkhovna Rada (14 December 2012)
Ukraine: Energy Policy Review 2006
International Energy Agency, 24 October 2006, (page 130)

Maryna Stavniychuk, deputy head of the presidential secretariat and the President's spokesperson on legal matters, stated ''"It is obvious that there are no serious political or legal grounds to consider the issue of the possible disruption of the presidential elections in Ukraine."''

The amended law on the presidential elections required candidates to pay a ₴2,500,000 (~308,000 USD) nomination deposit which will only be refunded to the two highest polling candidates that progressed to the second round of voting.

On 19 October 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine formed the 225 territorial election districts needed for carrying out the election.

20 October 2009, Ukraine's Constitutional Court announced its ruling declaring unconstitutional five aspects of the new law of the presidential election. Voters abroad will no longer have to be registered with the Ukrainian consulate in order to cast a vote. The courts will retain the right to consider without limitations any application or appeal in respect to a candidate's registration or the conduct of the election. The cancellation of absentee ballots remains as does the 90-day election period and the ₴2.5 million deposit. The ruling of the Constitutional Court is not expected to impact seriously on the election as the amended legislation remains in place.

On 21 December 2009, the Central Election Commission of Ukraine formed 113 foreign polling stations.

Voters are permitted to vote at home during the presidential election.

Costs

The Central Election Commission has estimated the budget of the holding of regular presidential elections in Ukraine at ₴1.5 billion, (approximately 200 million US dollars) with additional costs required by candidates to fund their campaigns.

Each candidate is required to pay an election deposit of ₴2.5 million (Approximately US$300,000) The deposit will be refunded to the two highest polling candidates who progress to the second round of elections.

On 26 November, the Central Election Commission stated a total of ₴1.314 billion is required to hold the presidential election, including 192.2 million in 2009 and 1.122 billion in 2010.Central Election Commission cuts expenditure on presidential election by Hr 17.3 million
, Kyiv Post (26 November 2009)

Assessments by political analysts show that each presidential candidate will have to spend at least US$150–200mn to promote himself; this includes buying story lines in the media, visual advertising, canvassing, printing political material and, work with electoral commissions.

Chairman of the Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Oleksandr Chernenko, also commented that presidential candidates will spend 1 billion US dollars on the election campaign

The cost of the run-off ballot is estimated to be US$119 million

Timetable

Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has set the following timetable for the conduct of the election:
* 19 October: Official 90-day Election Campaign period commences
* 20 October to 6 November: Nominations open
* 9 November: Deadline for nomination document/submissions

CEC has five days to assess and approve or reject nominations

* 11 November: Deadline for candidates to submit any corrections to documentation
* 13 November: CEC to finalize registration of nominations
* 15 November: CEC to publish nomination lists of candidates

CEC provides certified copies of the voters list to all candidates. Within Three days of registration Candidates must provide a statement of assets and income. Candidates allowed to commence official campaign one day after registration is finalized.

* 9 December: Foreign polling stations to be set up.
* 15 December: CEC to approve ballot paper format ready for printing.
* 21 December: Deadline for withdrawals of candidature.
* 2 January: Last day for public opinion polls to be published prior to election.
* 9 January: All ballot papers to be printed and ready for distribution to polling stations/districts.
* 15 January: Last day of public campaigning before polling day
* 17 January: Election (first-round ballot) polling commences 8 am and closes 10 pm
* 22 January: Tabulation of overseas and territorial polling place to be completed
* 27 January: Determination of voting results and declaration of poll

As no single candidate had 50% or more of the total recorded vote the two highest polling candidates faced off in a second-round ballot. The candidate with the highest vote in the second round will win the election.
* 7 February: Final round run-off ballot
* 17 February: Declaration of the election must be made within 10 days following the ballot or within 3 days of receipt of the official election protocols.

According to Article 104 of Ukraine's Constitution the President-elect within 30 days of the declaration of the poll must be sworn into office before Ukraine's parliament
* 25 February: Viktor Yanukovych is sworn into office.

Nominated candidates

The following candidates nominated for the presidential elections (in ballot paper order) A total of 18 candidates ran for president.CEC registers seven more presidential candidates, including Poroshenko, Tymoshenko
, Interfax-Ukraine (31 March 2014)
* Inna Bohoslovska, member of Verkhovna Rada, unaffiliated (block ''Party of Regions'')
* Mykhaylo Brodskyy, leader of the Party of Free Democrats