Candidates from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s ruling Servant of the People party are leading both parliamentary by-election races held in Cherkasy and Kherson Oblasts on Oct. 31.
One parliamentary seat in each region became vacant this year. In March, Oleksandr Skichko, who was elected to parliament in a single-member constituency in Cherkasy, lost his mandate after becoming the governor earlier this year. The same goes for Kherson mayor Ihor Kolykhaiev.
According to Central Election Commission, Serhii Kozyr, who stepped down as head of Kherson’s state administration on Oct. 27, is in the lead in his region, with 64.5%, with more than 97% of the votes counted. He’s ahead of 14 other candidates, including European Solidarity party member Ihor Yosypenko, who is in second place with 14.3% of the vote.
In the Cherkasy region, Vitaliy Voytsekhivsky is winning with 45%, with almost 50% of votes counted. Vladyslav Holub, a 37-year-old non-partisan candidate, is in second place with 25% of the votes. A total of 25 candidates are competing for this seat.
Turnout in both constituencies was extremely low — over 21% in the Kherson region and over 25% in the Cherkasy region.
On Oct. 31, elections for the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, took place months after the death of its former mayor Hennady Kernes. The turnout was over 28%.
Read more: Kharkiv votes for its mayor today: what you need to know
For Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 million people located 460 kilometers to the east of Kyiv, this by-election is significant as voters will choose a new mayor after Kernes’ 10-year reign, which was marked by scandals and controversy.
According to an exit poll by the nonprofit Committee of Voters of Ukraine, Kernes’ colleague Ihor Terekhov scored more than 53%, and former mayor Mykhailo Dobkin, who is supported by the pro-Russian party Opposition Platform—For Life, scored more than 24%. There are no official results yet.
