1999 Ukrainian presidential election

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, winning a second consecutive presidential election.^[2]

1999 Ukrainian presidential election

← 1994 31 October 1999 (first round) 14 November 1999 (second round) 2004 →
Turnout	70.15% (first round) 0.22pp 74.87% (second round) 3.24pp
Nominee Leonid Kuchma Petro Symonenko Party Independent KPU Popular vote 15,870,722 10,665,420 Percentage 57.70% 38.77%
First round results by oblast Second round results by oblast
President before election Leonid Kuchma Independent Elected President Leonid Kuchma Independent

As of 2025, this is the only re-election of an incumbent president in the history of independent Ukraine.

Electoral system

At the time of election the population in Ukraine was 50,105,600 with 34,017,400 living in cities.^{[citation needed]} 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 time of elections were not available to vote in Ukraine.

Registration

A total of 32 individuals applied for registration as candidates for the presidency, of whom 19 were registered by the Central Election Commission of Ukraine; the other 13 had their applications rejected.

Since the summer of 1999 there was heavy competition between candidates. Four candidates Yevhen Marchuk, Oleksandr Moroz, Volodymyr Oliynyk [uk] (mayor of Cherkasy), and Oleksandr Tkachenko (speaker of the Verkhovna Rada) met in Kaniv and called on all candidates to ensure just and honest elections. The "Kaniv Four" had intentions to present a single candidate who would have a better chance of success. However, they failed to do so and no-one else joined them. On 27 October Oliynyk withdrew his candidacy in favor of Yevhen Marchuk, while Oleksandr Tkachenko favored Petro Symonenko (leader of the Communist Party of Ukraine).

Registered candidates

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

• Oleksandr Bazylyuk, by Slavic Party
• Hennadiy Balashov, by group of voters (Dnipropetrovsk)
• Ivan Bilas [uk], by Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists
• Nataliya Vitrenko, by Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
• Mykola Haber [uk], by Patriotic Party of Ukraine
• Yuriy Karmazin, by Motherland Defenders Party
• Vitaliy Kononov, by Party of Greens of Ukraine
• Yuriy Kostenko, by group of voters (Kyiv)
• Leonid Kuchma, by group of voters (Kyiv)
• Yevhen Marchuk, by Bloc "Our President - Yevhen Marchuk!" (Social-Democratic Union, Christian-People's Union, Ukrainian Republican Party, Ukrainian Peasant Democratic Party)
• Oleksandr Moroz, by Socialist Party of Ukraine
• Hryhoriy Novodvorsky, by group of voters (Dashiv, Vinnytsia Oblast)
• Volodymyr Oliynyk [uk], by group of voters (Kirovohrad)
• Vasyl Onopenko, by Ukrainian Social Democratic Party
• Mykhailo Pavlovsky [uk], by group of voters (Khmelnytskyi)
• Oleksandr Rzhavsky, by All-Ukrainian Political Association "One Family"
• Petro Symonenko, by Communist Party of Ukraine
• Oleksandr Tkachenko, by Peasant Party of Ukraine
• Hennadiy Udovenko, by National Movement of Ukraine

Registration denied

• Mykola Havrylov
• Borys Holodyuk, by group of voters (Monastyrets, Lviv Oblast)
• Volodymyr Huba, by group of voter (Kyiv)
• Valentyna Datsenko, by All-Ukrainian Party of Female Initiatives
• Tetyana Zadorozhna, by group of voters (Shakhtarsk)
• Oleh Kalashnikov, by group of voters (Kyiv)
• Valeriy Korotkov, by Women National Party (united)
• Dmytro Korchynsky, by group of voters (Pohoriltsi, Chernihiv Oblast)
• Pavlo Lazarenko, by Hromada
• Oleksandr Pukhkal, by group of voters (Mykolaivka, Kirovohrad Oblast)
• Marian Roketsky, by group of voters (Ivano-Frankivsk)
• Andriy Taranenko, by group of voters (Kyiv)
• Volodymyr Yurchenko, by group of voters (Kyiv)

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.

• Oleksandr Bazylyuk, initially denied in registration, Bazylyuk was granted candidate status on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of August 11, 1999
• Nataliya Vitrenko
• Mykola Haber [uk], initially denied in registration, Haber was granted candidate status on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of August 9, 1999
• Yuriy Karmazin, initially denied in registration, Karmazin was granted candidate status on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of August 16, 1999
• Vitaliy Kononov, initially denied in registration, Kononov was granted candidate status on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of August 12, 1999
• Yuriy Kostenko
• Leonid Kuchma
• Yevhen Marchuk
• Oleksandr Moroz
• Volodymyr Oliynyk [uk]
• Vasyl Onopenko, initially denied in registration, Onopenko was granted candidate status on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of August 6, 1999
• Oleksandr Rzhavsky, initially denied in registration, Rzhavsky was granted candidate status on decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine of August 10, 1999
• Petro Symonenko
• Oleksandr Tkachenko
• Hennadiy Udovenko

Campaign

During the campaign Kuchma was supported by the Bloc "Our Choice – Leonid Kuchma!"^[3][4]

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

Conduct

According to historian Serhy Yekelchyk President Kuchma's administration "employed electoral fraud freely" during the election.^[5]

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 Kuchma	Independent	9,598,672	37.99	15,870,722	57.70
	Petro Symonenko	Communist Party of Ukraine	5,849,077	23.15	10,665,420	38.77
	Oleksandr Moroz	Socialist Party of Ukraine	2,969,896	11.75
	Nataliya Vitrenko	Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine	2,886,972	11.43
	Yevhen Marchuk	Independent	2,138,356	8.46
	Yuriy Kostenko	Independent	570,623	2.26
	Hennadiy Udovenko	The Movement–Reforms and Order	319,778	1.27
	Vasyl Onopenko	Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)	124,040	0.49
	Oleksandr Rzhavskyy	One Family[6]	96,515	0.38
	Yuriy Karmazin	Motherland Defenders Party	90,793	0.36
	Vitaliy Kononov	Party of Greens of Ukraine	76,832	0.30
	Oleksandr Bazyliuk [uk]	Slavic Party	36,012	0.14
	Mykola Haber [uk]	Patriotic Party of Ukraine	31,829	0.13
Against all			477,019	1.89	970,181	3.53
Total			25,266,414	100.00	27,506,323	100.00
Valid votes			25,266,414	96.05	27,506,323	97.50
Invalid/blank votes			1,038,749	3.95	706,161	2.50
Total votes			26,305,163	100.00	28,212,484	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			37,498,630	70.15	37,680,581	74.87
Source: Nohlen & Stöver