Presidential run-off begins in Ukraine

The revote of presidential run-off between Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko began Sunday with 32,118 polling stations opening at 8:00 am (0600 GMT) for voters to cast their ballots.

The voting will end at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT), with exit polls to be released immediately after the close.

It is the third time in eight weeks that the two rival candidates faced off in a fiercely waged presidential contest.

A record number of 12,187 foreign monitors, mostly from European countries and Russia, had registered with the Central Elections Committee (CEC) to join more than 300,000 Ukrainian monitors nominated by the two candidates.

Yanukovych defeated Yushchenko by a narrow margin in the November 21 run-off. But Yuschenko supporters staged widespread demonstration, protesting at what they called election fraud.

The results of the Nov. 21 presidential run-off were annulled by the Supreme Court, leading to Sunday's revoting.

The crisis has opened a rift between the Russian-speaking eastern regions, which largely back Yanukovych, and the cosmopolitan capital Kiev and the west, where support for Yushchenko is high.

Yanukovych also enjoys strong backing from elderly and disabled Ukrainians who saw their pensions raised twice during his time as prime minister.

Source: Xinhua