Update: At 10 p.m., the sociological organizations behind the National Exit Poll released their final results. According to the poll, Zelenskiy will take 73 percent of the vote, while Poroshenko will receive 25.5 percent.
The National Exit Poll surveyed over 14,500 people at 300 polling places.
Comedic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be Ukraine’s next president, according to the National Exit Poll.
Zelenskiy will receive 73.2 percent of the vote in the second round of the 2019 presidential election to defeat incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who will receive only 25.3 percent.
Additionally, 1.5 percent of voters ruined their ballots, according to the poll.
The figures were based upon the results of the exit poll as of 6 p.m. The final results will be published at 10 p.m. The exit poll has a 1.3-percent margin of error.
After the results were published, Zelenskiy addressed supporters at his headquarters.
“While I’m not yet president, I can say this as a Ukrainian citizen. To all post-Soviet countries: look at us. Everything is possible,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Poroshenko campaign headquarters, the incumbent president spoke to his own supporters. He publicly recognized the results of the vote and praised the fact that the elections were held honestly and in accordance with European standards.
“I’m leaving office, but I’m not leaving politics,” Poroshenko said.
Landslide
According to the exit poll, Zelenskiy will not only win the election, but also take a majority of the vote across virtually all regions of the country.
The poll divides Ukraine into four regions: west, center, south, and east. According to the results, Zelenskiy will win in all four.
His strongest showing will be in the east and south, where he will take 87.7 percent and 85.4 percent, respectively. He will receive 70.3 percent in the center. Most surprisingly, Zelenskiy will take 57 percent of the vote in the more Ukrainian-speaking and nationalistic west, which was regarded as Poroshenko’s stronghold throughout the election.
According to the exit poll, Poroshenko will perform the strongest in the west and center, where he will receive 41.3 percent and 28 percent of the vote, respectively. He will take only 13.4 percent in the south and 11.2 percent in the east.
The National Exit Poll was carried out by three organizations: the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, and the Razumkov Center.
Two other polls confirmed the results of the National Exit Poll. An exit poll by the 112 and NewsOne television channels shows Zelenskiy receiving 73.7 percent of the vote, compared to Poroshenko’s 26.3 percent. And a poll by the TSN television channel shows Zelenskiy taking 72.7 percent and Poroshenko receiving 27.3 percent.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
