Ukrainian voters go to polls in presidential election that could repudiate Orange Revolution

Ukraine voters face landmark presidential vote

KIEV, Ukraine — Ukrainians cast their first presidential ballots since the 2004 Orange Revolution Sunday, an election that could turn the country from its pro-Western course and renew its historic ties to Russia.

A few voters made their way along icy sidewalks in the capital Kiev early in the morning, headed for the polls. Early turnout appeared light.

Opinion polls show former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, a foe of the 2004 Orange-led mass protests, has the support of about a third of voters. He is followed by Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, an Orange leader who in the past year has reached out to the Kremlin.

Polls show President Viktor Yushchenko out of the running. He has sought to build bridges with the West and to reduce Russia’s influence in Ukraine, antagonizing the Kremlin.

If, as expected, none of the 18 candidates wins more than 50 percent, the race will be forced into a runoff.

Many Ukrainian voters appeared to have low expectations of Sunday’s vote, with some wondering whether the election can help the country recover from years of political paralysis and the country’s deep economic recession.

“I think things will get even worse,” said Tamara Alexandrova, a retired resident of Kiev. “I live near the presidential offices, and you see what happens there. Nobody cares about the people.”

But Viktor Vityuk, a 30-something Kiev voter, expressed confidence that the election would help the country advance. “I think that the choice our nation makes will be the right one,” he said.

Voters, analysts and candidates have all expressed fear that the vote will be marred by large-scale fraud.

As part of an international effort to bolster confidence in the returns, foreign observers have fanned out across Ukraine to monitor voting in this country of 46 million. There are 36.6 million registered voters.

Allegations of fraud in Ukraine’s 2004 presidential election led to the mass protests of the Orange Revolution. In the wake of those demonstratons, Ukraine’s Supreme Court threw out Yanukovych’s apparent victory over Yushchenko and ordered a revote. Yushchenko won the re-run election.

Voter disenchantment with the country’s current political leadership could bolster the fortunes of candidates who cast themselves as outsiders.

One little known candidate, Sergei Tigipko, has surged in the polls in recent weeks, in part by portraying himself as a fresh face and an outsider.

A recent poll showed Tigipko, a former economics minister and wealthy banker, edging ahead of Tymoshenko for second place and a spot in the runoff. “I want very much to be the biggest sensation of this election,” he told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Another candidate appealing to disillusioned voters is Vasily Gumenyuk, 63, a former mayor from western Ukraine, who legally changed his name to Vasily Protivsikh, which translates as Vasily Againstall. He appears on the ballot under that name. The Ukrainian presidential ballot allows voters to choose “Against All.”

Not all voters are discouraged. Some Ukrainians feel that their next president will not face the same daunting challenges as the incumbent Yushchenko, who waged a losing battle to impose sweeping reforms.

Voters blamed Yushchenko in part for the plunge in the Ukrainian economy during the 2008 global financial crisis. The next president could take credit for the recovery.

“I think this year the level of the economy will be increasing,” said Alexei Sukachev, a Kiev marketing specialist, on Saturday. As a result, he said, Yushchenko’s successor will find it easier “to come out of the crisis, easier to restore the economy.”

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Associated Press writer Simon Shuster contributed to this report.