Tymoshenko rating up by almost 7% since August

October27200921:24

If the voting day came in late October, 23.17% of Ukrainians would support Viktor Yanukovych for president, says the national monthly poll run by the TNS, the company’s site reports. Accordingly, 17.92% of Ukrainians would vote for Premier Yulia Tymoshenko and 6.5% for Arseny Yatseniuk.
<P>Other presidential candidates would get: Viktor Yushchenko – 3% of the vote, Petro Symonenko and Serhy Tyhipko – 2.6%, Volodymyr Lytvyn – 1.75%, Anatoly Hrytsenko – 1.25% , Oleh Tyahnybok – 1%. </P>
<P>All other candidates would receive less than one per cent of the vote. The number of undecided voters stands at 19%, with 9.67% voting against all and 8.5% refusing to vote. </P>
<P>According to the poll, Yanukovych’s rating went up by 4% since August , with 6.8% up for Tymoshenko, 1.6% up for Tyhipko and 0.4% up for Hrytsenko. Arseny Yatseniuk’s approval rating has dropped by 4.6% and Volodymyr Lytvyn’s by 1.9% over the same period. </P>
<P>When asked whom they will vote for in the Tymoshenko-Yanukovych run-off, 29.1% of Ukrainians said they would support Yanukovych and 26.33% Yulia Tymoshenko, with 19.67% voting against both, 16.67 undecided and 8.17% refusing to vote. </P>
<P>The pollsters have admitted a 3% permissible error. </P></SPAN> Print

• 18:2615.11.09 Niko
• • Good points Ukrtoday, but why stop at parliamentary elections? Simply appoint a permanent dictator who can hand-pick each parliamentarian and cabinet member, that way Ukraine would never have to bother with those pesky, expensive, time-consuming elections at all!
    I jest, of course. Saving money on polls should not be at the top of anyone's lists of concerns -- after all, you can't put a price on democracy. The two-round voting system is democratic in that it gives 3rd party candidates a chance to potentially gather a following WITHOUT people being afraid that they are simply "wasting" their votes.
    If the USA had had such a system in 2000, Bush and Gore would have entered a run-off, and Gore would have gained the votes that Nader got in the first round, and we never would have had the entire 8-year Bush fiasco. Plus the country's democracy would be more competitive, as 3rd party candidates like Nader would actually get even more votes in the first round, demonstrating to politicians the constituency's true political desires, and not simply pigeon-holing them into one of two rigid main parties.
• 05:1128.10.09 Ukrtoday
• • As the election progresses we can expect to see a consolidation in the vote in favour of major candidates as Ukrainians become aware that a vote for minor players is a wasted vote.
    
    Under Ukraine's flawed two-round "first-past-the-post" voting system only the two highest polling candidates will progress to the second round of voting. All other candidates will lose their deposit.
    
    Yushchenko, Yatseniuk and other candidates who are associated with 'Our Ukraine' are competing against each other for their share of the same slice of the cake.
    
    Ukraine would be better off adopting a single round preferential voting system. One round more stable and at half the cost.
    
    Better still is adopt a system where the head of state is elected by a constitutional parliamentary majority of 60% or more as is the case in Moldova or Greece.
    
    A parliamentary elected head of state costs nothing and the person elected would democratically represent Ukraine much more.