Survey results show comedy actor and co-owner of Studio Kvartal 95 Volodymyr Zelenskiy continuing to lead among presidential candidates at the end of the second week in March, with 24.9 percent support among Ukrainians who intend to vote in the election. Batkivshchyna Party leader Yulia Tymoshenko is in second place with 18.8 percent, followed by incumbent President Petro Poroshenko with 17.4 percent, according to a survey conducted by the Sociological Group Rating.
Some 10.2 percent of those polled support Opposition Platform – For Life leader Yuriy Boiko, who is followed by Civil Position Party leader Anatoliy Hrytsenko with 9.4 percent, Radical Party leader Oleh Liashko with 5.8 percent, and Opposition Bloc candidate Oleksandr Vilkul with 3.5 percent.
Every sixth respondent could not decide whom to support.
“It’s important that most of these persons are among the poorer voters, village residents, mostly women,” sociologists said.
Zelenskiy has strong electoral positions in the south-eastern regions and in the center of the country, Tymoshenko and Poroshenko – in the central and western regions, Hrytsenko in western regions and Boiko in Ukraine’s eastern regions. According to the poll, Zelenskiy is the most popular candidate in cities, and Tymoshenko in villages. Zelenskiy is a leader enjoying popularity with young people and middle-aged people, while Tymoshenko appeals to older voters. Zelenskiy, Poroshenko and Hrytsenko are more popular with men, and Tymoshenko with women.
Poroshenko leads the anti-rating among candidates. Nearly half of those polled said they would not vote for him under any circumstances. Some 30 percent said they would not vote for Tymoshenko, 19 percent for Boiko, 17 percent for Liashko, 12 percent for Zelenskiy, and 12 percent for Vilkul.
At the same time, 20.8 percent of respondents said Poroshenko would be the next president. Some 19.5 percent believe in Zelenskiy’s victory and 18.6 percent in Tymoshenko’s victory. According to this indicator, leaders of the race are almost even. Only 3 percent of those polled believe in the victory of Boiko and Hrytsenko. More people last month switched their sympathies to Zelenskiy while Poroshenko slightly lost there.
Results of the survey for the second round of the presidential election are as follows: Tymoshenko takes first place in a race against Poroshenko (28 percent to 19 percent). At the same time, Zelenskiy would beat Poroshenko (39 percent to 19 percent), Tymoshenko (35 percent to 22 percent) and Hrytsenko (34 percent to 26 percent)
The leading party in the parliamentary election rating is Zelenskiy’s Servant of the People Party, which is supported by 22.4 percent of those who are determined and intend to vote. Batkivshchyna is supported by 19.1 percent and the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko (BPP) Solidarity by 15.8 percent, Opposition Platform by 10.2 percent, the Civil Position Party by 7.9 percent, the Radical Party by 6.1 percent, the Svoboda Party by 3.6 percent, Opposition Bloc and Samopomich by 3.2 percent each. Other parties would garner less than 2 percent of support, according to the survey results.
Almost a quarter of those polled have not decided on the choice of the party. Over the past month, the positions of leading parties have become stronger. The Civil Position Party and BPP have added the most support, with Samopomich losing the most support.
The study was conducted from March 9 to March 15 among Ukrainians who are 18 years and older. The sample is representative by age, gender, region, and type of settlement. Some 2,500 persons took part in the survey conducted by formalized interview (face-to-face). The margin of error of the survey does not exceed 2 percent.
