Kiev, Ukraine — Ukraine's prime minister was leading the nation's run-off presidential election, according to partial vote tallies released early today, but his Western-leaning challenger held the advantage in an exit poll funded partly by the United States.
Both camps complained of voting problems. Also, a policeman guarding a polling station overnight was found dead of a head injury apparently inflicted by intruders, news reports said.
With 69 percent of precincts counted following Sunday's election, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had 48.58 percent of the vote, compared with Viktor Yushchenko's 47.78 percent, the Central Election Commission said. About 2 percent voted against both candidates.
But an exit poll conducted by anonymous questionnaires under a program funded by several Western governments said Yushchenko had received 54 percent of the vote compared with the Kremlin-praised Yanukovych's 43 percent. A second exit poll, however, showed Yushchenko's margin was much smaller at 49.4 percent to 45.9 percent, the Interfax news agency reported.
"The difference between Yushchenko and Yanukovych displayed in exit polls shows that even if authorities attempt to rig the vote they will not be able to falsify all of it," Yushchenko's campaign manager, Oleksandr Zinchenko, told about 5,000 people gathered Sunday in Kiev's Independence Square.
Yanukovych spokesman Stepan Havrysh criticized the exit poll results, calling them "incorrect, unscientific and even comical."
Sunday's run-off could determine whether the ex-Soviet republic of 48 million pursues closer integration with the West or moves more into Moscow's sphere of influence. There were concerns the vote could turn violent.
Turnout was more than 77 percent, election commission chairman Serhiy Kivalov said. That figure was based on one-third of the country's 225 election districts.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.