KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2019) Polling places closed on Sunday in Ukraine marking the conclusion of the second round of the presidential election.
Polling stations were open on Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time (05:00 - 17:00 GMT).
The first round of the Ukrainian presidential election was held on March 31 and resulted in none of the candidates gaining the absolute majority needed to win the race. In the runoff election the leaders of the first round � incumbent President Petro Poroshenko who received 15.95 percent of the votes and Volodymyr Zelenskiy who received 30.24 percent � are competing for the presidency.
This year is the first time that Russian observers have been denied access to monitor the election. Because of this, Moscow has expressed concern over the legitimacy of Ukraine's election and its results. As a result of Kiev choosing to close polling stations in Russia as well as in the Donbas region, 7-10 million Ukrainian citizens were left unable to vote in the election.
The Ukrainian president is elected for a five-year term. The Ukrainian Central Election Commission has until May 1 inclusively to announce the results of the second election round. The inauguration of the new president will take place before June 3.
