1999 Ukrainian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Ukraine on 31 October 1999, with a second round on 14 November. The result was a victory for Leonid Kuchma, who defeated Petro Symonenko in the run-off. Electoral system. At the time of election the population in Ukraine was 50,105,600 with 34,017,400 living in cities. The most districts contained the Donetsk Oblast (23) as the most populous one, the least electoral districts among oblasts were in the Chernivtsi Oblast, only 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 moment of elections were not available to vote in Ukraine. Registration. There were 32 individuals who submitted their documents for registration as pretenders on candidate to the President of Ukraine. Out of them 19 pretenders were registered with the Central Election Commission of Ukraine to run for presidential elections, the rest 13 were denied in registration. Registered pretenders. Notes: 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. Notes: Kaniv four. Since the summer of 1999 there was a sharp competition among the candidates. Four candidates Yevhen Marchuk, Oleksandr Moroz, Volodymyr Oliynyk (mayor of Cherkasy), and Oleksandr Tkachenko (speaker of Verkhovna Rada) met in Kaniv and called on all candidates to just and honest elections. The "Kaniv Four" had intentions to present a single candidate who would have more chances for success. It however failed to do so and no one else joined them neither. Volodymyr Oliynyk being promoted by Kirovohrad city residents, on October 27 surrendered his candidacy in  favor of Yevhen Marchuk, while Oleksandr Tkachenko favored Petro Symonenko (leader of Communist Party of Ukraine). Conduct. According to historian Serhy Yekelchyk President Kuchma's administration "employed electoral fraud freely" during the election. 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. Notes. During the election  campaign Kuchma was supported by the Bloc "Our Choice – Leonid Kuchma!"