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Comedian-Turned-Politician's Party Poised to Win Ukraine's Parliamentary Vote

RFE/RL Ukrainian Service

   KYIV - Servant of the People, the party of Ukrainian President
   Volodymyr Zelenskiy, appears on course to win a parliamentary majority
   after some 44 percent of votes have been counted, according to data
   from the Central Election Commission.

   The comedian-turned-president's party was in the lead in around 125 out
   of 199 constituencies in Ukraine, the data showed at 9:15 a.m (local
   time).

   Zelenskiy's party also won a majority on the party lists with 42
   percent of vote or 122 seats, according to preliminary results, well
   ahead of its nearest rival with just over 12 percent. If the result
   stands, it would be the first time in Ukraine's post-independence
   history that a party has obtained a majority in the parliament, the
   Verkhovna Rada.

   Under Ukraine's mixed electoral system, half the Rada's seats are
   determined by votes on party lists and the rest are first-past-the-post
   races in local constituencies.

   The latest results released by the election commission show the Servant
   of the People's main challenger, the pro-Russian Opposition Platform--
   For Life party, was in second place with 43 seats.

   Voter turnout
   Voter turnout was nearly 50 percent in the July 21 snap parliamentary
   elections held three months ahead of schedule, the Opora election
   watchdog said, which also monitors polling violations.

   Former President Petro Poroshenko's European Solidarity party got less
   than 9 percent; ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's populist
   Fatherland party got 8.1 percent; and rock star Svyatoslav Vakarchuk's
   Holos party received 6.38 percent.

   They all appear to have passed the required 5-percent threshold for
   legislative seats.

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