2020 Kharkiv local elections

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|  | 25 October 2020 |

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Mayoral election

<- 2015

2021 ->

Turnout| 31.36%  11.05 pp[1][2]
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Candidate  | Hennadiy Kernes | Oleksandr Feldman
Party  | Kernes Bloc | OPZZh
Popular vote  | 195,044 | 46,278
Percentage  | 61.52% | 14.60%

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|  |
Candidate  | Oleksiy Kucher | Oleh Abramychev
Party  | SN | YeS
Popular vote  | 23,401  | 21,315
Percentage  | 7.38%  | 6.72%

* * *

| Mayor before election

Hennadiy Kernes
Revival

| Elected mayor

Hennadiy Kernes
Kernes Bloc

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City Council election

<- 2015

2025 ->

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All 84 seats in the Kharkiv City Council
43 seats needed for a majority
| Party  | Leader  | Vote %  | Seats  | +/–

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| Kernes Bloc | Hennadiy Kernes | 37.95  | 34  | New
| OPZZh | Oleksandr Feldman | 20.96  | 19  | New
| YeS | Oleh Abramychev  | 8.99  | 9  | +2
| SN | Oleksiy Kucher | 8.76  | 7  | New
| PSh | Mykyta Rozhenko  | 6.55  | 7  | New
| Svitlychna Bloc | Yuliya Svitlychna | 6.14  | 6  | New

This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.

Results by district

Secretary before | Secretary after

|

Oleksandr Novak
Revival | Ihor Terekhov
Kernes Bloc

Main article: 2020 Ukrainian local elections

Local elections were held in Kharkiv on 25 October 2020 to elect the Mayor of Kharkiv and the 84-seat Kharkiv City Council as a part of wider 2020 Ukrainian local elections, which took place on the same day.[3]

## Electoral system

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These were the first elections held under the newly adopted Electoral Code, which provided a fully proportional electoral system at the both local and national levels.[4]

Kharkiv was divided into 7 districts with an unfixed amount of seats. Each party had to form two lists: the first is united for the entire city, and the second is for individual territorial districts. The party would receive a mandate if it overcomes the 5% threshold. In this case, the No.1 candidate on the list is guaranteed to receive a seat. Candidates who receive 25% or more of the electoral quota of their district get to the top of the list in descending order of the number of votes for them. In the case of an equal number of votes, the order of candidates will remain as determined by the party at the time of voting. After the candidates who passed to the council according to the quota, the rest are placed in the order determined by the party.

Electoral quota is the number of votes needed to obtain one seat. The electoral quota is determined by the territorial election commission. For this, the commission needed to divide the total number of votes for those parties that won at least 5 percent of the voters' votes and are now participating in the distribution of mandates by the number of mandates. The number of seats into which the electoral votes had to be divided is the difference between the number of seats in the Kharkiv City Council and the number of guaranteed seats for each party that entered the council (one seat per party).[4]

## Mayoral candidates

[edit]

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024)

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* Hennadiy Kernes \- Kernes began his political career being elected to the Kharkiv City Council in 1998, serving three terms as the leader of the "New Kharkiv - New Opportunities" independent bloc.[5] In 2006 he was elected to the council as a member of the Party of Regions and had been the incumbent mayor of Kharkiv since he won the 2010 Ukrainian local elections.[6][7][8] Kernes was initially described as pro-Russian and was accused of organizing and supporting anti-Maidan forces in Kharkiv during Euromaidan.[9] After his criminal trial for allegedly torturing Euromaidan participants was dropped, Kernes pivoted to being pro-Ukrainian, switching his party affiliation to Revival and was able to win re-election in the 2015 Ukrainian local elections.[10][11][12] Kernes also unsuccessfully sought a seat in the Verkhovna Rada during the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election for the Opposition Bloc, getting only 3.23%, short of the 5% to enter parliament.[13] In late 2019 Kernes effectively took over a small local party, "Unitary European Ukraine" and transformed it into Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv as a vehicle for him and his supporters to establish themselves as the primer political force within the city, not beholden to any existing national parties.[14][15]

* Oleksandr Feldman \- Feldman is one of Kharkiv's leading oligarchs, worth USD$287m, making him the 35th richest man in Ukraine.[16][17] President of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee, Feldman was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the 2002 Ukrainian parliamentary election for United Ukraine, joining the party in its merger with Batkivshchyna.[18] He would be re-elected in 2006 and 2007 as a member of the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc before leaving the party and joining Party of Regions, citing an uncomfortable amount of nationalism within the former. Feldman would be re-elected in 2012, and became a political independent for his re-election in 2014 before joining Our Land and being re-elected in 2019, shortly afterwards he joined Opposition Platform — For Life and was named the party's candidate for mayor.[19][20]

* Oleksiy Kucher \- Kucher is a Kherson native and attended the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University, choosing to stay in Kharkiv after his graduation.[21] Kucher was elected to the Verkhovna Rada in the 2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election as a member of Servant of the People.[22] On 19 October 2019, Kucher was appointed the Governor of Kharkiv Oblast by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and was named Servant of the People's candidate for the mayoral election.[20][23]
* Oleh Abramychev
* Ihor Cherniak
* Oleksandra Naryzhna
* Mykyta Soloviov

## Opinion polls

[edit]

### City Council election

[edit]

Fieldwork date  | Polling firm  | Sample size  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Other  | Lead

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25 October 2020  | Liberty Report/Ukraine 24 | 12,765  | —  | —  | 9,2 | 1,7  | 1,5  | 1,1  | —  | —  | —  | 2,1  | 17,0 | 12,4 | 0,4  | 0,7  | 6,4 | 39,5 | 5,4 | 2,6  | 22,5
Exit polls
5-11 October 2020  | Dialogue | 1,600  | —  | —  | 4,2  | 1,0  | 1,8  | 0,3  | —  | —  | —  | 0,9  | 15,4 | 7,8 | —  | 0,9  | 3,5  | 54,7 | 7,0 | 2,5  | 39,3
25-27 September 2020  | Public Opinion | 1,200  | —  | —  | 5,8 | 7,9 | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 21,4 | 11,4 | —  | —  | —  | 31,7 | 13,3 | 8,5[a] | 3,7
20-22 September 2020  | Info Sapiens/IRI | 600  | —  | 0,5  | 11 | 1  | 1  | 1  | 3  | 0,2  | 0,3  | 2  | 15 | 11 | 1  | —  | 6 | 31 | 5 | 11[b] | 16
25 January-17 February 2020  | Rating/IRI | 633  | —  | 1,2  | 4,9  | —  | 3,7  | —  | 2,4  | 1,2  | —  | 2,4  | 29,3 | 30,5 | 2,4  | —  | 6,1 | —  | —  | 15,9  | 1,2
6 September-10 October 2019  | Rating/IRI | 689  | —  | —  | 3,4  | —  | 1,1  | —  | 14,8 | —  | —  | 2,3  | 17,0 | 48,9 | 1,1  | —  | 4,6  | —  | —  | 6,8  | 31,9
6-11 November 2019  | SMC | 833  | 2,3  | 1,1  | 3,4  | —  | 3,4  | 3,1  | 3,4  | 2,3  | 28,7 | 2,3  | 14,9 | 29,9 | 0,9  | —  | 2,3  | —  | —  | 2,0  | 25,5
25 October 2015  | 2015 Kyiv local election  | 53,64  | 11,85  | 6,76  | 6,67  | 3,43  | 1,99  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 15,67  | 41,79

### Mayoral election

[edit]

Fieldwork date  | Polling firm  | Sample size  | Kernes | Davtian  | Abramychev  | Feldman | Kucher | Svitlychna | Cherniak  | Naryzhna  | Solovyov  | Yaroslavskyi | Other  | Lead

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25 October 2020  | Liberty Report/Ukraine 24 | 12,765  | 57,9 | —  | 6,2  | 12,1  | 12,0  | —  | 4,5  | 2,4  | 1,2  | 1,0  | 2,7  | 45,8
Exit polls
20-22 September 2020  | Info Sapiens/IRI | 600  | 63 | —  | —  | 4  | 5  | 13  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 15[c] | 50
5-11 October 2020  | Dialogue | 1,600  | 79,8 | —  | 1,6  | 7,3  | 5,3  | —  | 2,3  | 0,5  | 0,6  | 1,2  | 1,4  | 72,5
6-11 November 2019  | SMC | 1,014  | 56,8 | 0,5  | —  | 9,1  | 1,1  | 15,9  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 16,6  | 40,9
25 October 2015  | 2015 Kyiv local election  | 65,8  | 4,5  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | —  | 29,7  | 53,5

## Results

[edit]

### City Council

[edit]

Party| Votes| %| Seats| +/–
| Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv| 117,470| 37.95| 34| New
| Opposition Platform — For Life| 64,892| 20.96| 19| New
| European Solidarity| 27,843| 8.99| 9| +2
| Servant of the People| 27,107| 8.76| 9| New
| Party of Shariy| 20,266| 6.55| 7| New
| Svitlychna Bloc — Together!| 19,016| 6.14| 6| New
| Holos| 6,659| 2.15| 0| New
| Our Land| 5,936| 1.92| 0| –7
| Batkivshchyna| 3,911| 1.26| 0| New
| Democratic Axe| 3,647| 1.18| 0| New
| For the Future| 2,985| 0.96| 0| New
| Victory of Palchevskyi| 2,813| 0.91| 0| New
| Svoboda| 2,380| 0.77| 0| New
| Party of Pensioners of Ukraine| 2,095| 0.68| 0| New
| Strength and Honor| 1,500| 0.48| 0| New
| Aktsent| 574| 0.19| 0| New
| Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform| 485| 0.16| 0| New
Total| 309,579| 100.00| 84| 0
Valid votes| 309,579| 95.83|
Invalid/blank votes| 13,456| 4.17|
Total votes| 323,035| 100.00|
Registered voters/turnout| 1,030,787| 31.34|
Source: CEC[24]

### Mayor

[edit]

Candidate| Party| Votes| %

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| Hennadiy Kernes| Kernes Bloc — Successful Kharkiv| 195,044| 61.52
| Oleksandr Feldman| Opposition Platform — For Life| 46,278| 14.60
| Oleksiy Kucher| Servant of the People| 23,401| 7.38
| Oleh Abramychev| European Solidarity| 21,315| 6.72
| Ihor Cherniak| Svitlychna Bloc — Together!| 10,085| 3.18
| Oleksandra Naryzhna| Holos| 6,282| 1.98
| Mykyta Soloviov| Democratic Axe| 4,199| 1.32
| Denys Yaroslavskyi| Independent| 3,233| 1.02
| Serhii Kushnariov| Victory of Palchevskyi| 2,471| 0.78
| Ihor Prykhodko| Batkivshchyna| 1,888| 0.60
| Iryna Denysova| For the Future| 1,371| 0.43
| Valerii Bezlepkin| Independent| 564| 0.18
| Nataliia Pylypenko| Independent| 558| 0.18
| Heorhii Lahovskyi| Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform| 349| 0.11
Total| 317,038| 100.00
Valid votes| 317,038| 98.09
Invalid/blank votes| 6,180| 1.91
Total votes| 323,218| 100.00
Registered voters/turnout| 1,030,787| 31.36
Source: CEC[24]

## Aftermath

[edit]

Incumbent mayor and front runner Kernes saw his health rapidly deteriorate in the days before the election and was last seen in public on 23 August 2020.[25] On 17 September 2020 it was announced that Kernes was hospitalized in Germany for COVID-19 and he won the 25 October election from his hospital bed.[20] On 9 December 2020, Kernes was sworn in as mayor without being present and it was announced on 11 December that Kernes had suffered a kidney failure.[26] On 17 December, Kernes' close personal friend, Pavel Fuks, announced that Kernes had passed away due to complications of COVID-19, exasperated by his kidney failure.[27] Ihor Terekhov would take over the Kernes Block, and a snap election for mayor was scheduled for 2021. Terekhov won these (31 October 2021) election with 50.66% of the vote.[28]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Against all - 3,7%
2. ^ None of the above - 4%
3. ^ None of the above - 9%

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Kernes wins elections for Kharkiv mayor with over 65% of vote". Interfax-Ukraine. 2015-10-31. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
2. ^ Wilson, Andrew (29 October 2015). "Five lessons from the local elections in Ukraine". European Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
3. ^ Вибори депутатів Верховної Ради Автономної Республіки Крим, обласних, районних, міських, районних у містах, сільських, селищних рад, сільських, селищних, міських голів 25 жовтня 2020 року Archived 2020-07-17 at the Wayback Machine / Календарний план основних організаційних заходів з підготовки та проведення місцевих виборів 25 жовтня 2020 року Archived 2020-09-07 at the Wayback Machine // Central Electoral Commission
4. ^ a b Баркар, Дмитро (2020-08-06). "Місцеві вибори за новими правилами: як правильно проголосувати?". Радіо Свобода (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-10-29.
5. ^ "Кернес Геннадий" [Short bio of Hennadiy Kernes]. LIGA. Retrieved 2023-04-20.
6. ^ "Украина - Кернес Геннадий Адольфович - официальная биография мэра Харькова". DailyUA.
7. ^ (in Ukrainian) Keys to cities. What is the secret of longevity of mayors, The Ukrainian Week (10 August 2020)
8. ^ "Biography of Hennadiy Kernes" Archived 2020-12-18 at the Wayback Machine Official Hennadiy Kernes' Webcite
9. ^ "Mayor of Ukraine's 2nd-biggest city shot in the back", New York Post, 28 April 2014; accessed 28 August 2014.
10. ^ (in Ukrainian) Cases against Kernes stopped, Ukrayinska Pravda (30 July 2014)
The State Office of Public Prosecutor stopped a legal investigation against Kernes from - for diseases, Преступности.НЕТ (30 July 2014)
11. ^ "Ukraine crisis: US and EU to intensify Russia sanctions". BBC. 28 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
Ukraine mayor in critical condition after he was shot in the back, Los Angeles Times (28 April 2014)
12. ^ ""Відродження" відправить у мери Харкова Кернеса, а за крісло мера Одеси буде боротися Фабрикант" ["Revival" will send the mayor of Kharkiv Kernes, and the seat of mayor of Odesa will fight Fabricant]. www.unian.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-04-20.
13. ^ "Новинський і ще 5 "опоблоківців" проходять у Раду, а Колесніков – ні". Українська правда.
14. ^ white collar hundred. "Відкритий реєстр юридичних осіб, без капчі та реєстрації". Відкритий реєстр юридичних осіб. Retrieved 2020-09-21.
15. ^ "Кернес открывает второй фронт: зарегистрирован новый блок без "доверяй делам"". Kharkiv today (in Russian). Retrieved 2020-09-21.
16. ^ "Форбс" оценил сотню самых богатых украинцев в 55 млрд. долларов (in Russian). Retrieved 2017-11-10.
17. ^ "Фельдман Александр. ДОСЬЕ :: Персональный сайт Сергея Руденко". www.rudenko.kiev.ua. Retrieved 2017-11-10.
18. ^ Daniel K. Eisenbud (March 10, 2014). "Ukrainian Jewish Committee: Russian claims of anti-Semitism in Crimea are lies, propaganda". Jerusalem Post.
19. ^ (in Russian)/(website has automatic Google Translate option) Short bio, LIGA
20. ^ a b c (in Ukrainian) Kharkiv, the votes in the mayoral election were counted: who wins and whether there will be a second round, UNIAN (4 November 2020)
21. ^ "Кучер Олексій Володимирович". dovidka.com.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved November 11, 2019.
22. ^ "Some 254 MPs enter Rada from Servant of the People, 124 MPs from other parties, 46 MPs self-appointed". Interfax-Ukraine. July 26, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
23. ^ "Decree of the President of Ukraine № 806/2019". Office of the President of Ukraine (in Ukrainian). Retrieved November 11, 2019.
24. ^ a b "Центральна виборча комісія України - WWW відображення ІАС "Місцеві вибори 2020". 2022-02-25. Archived from the original on 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2023-12-27.
25. ^ Kharkiv City Council denies reports on mayor's COVID-19 coma, UNIAN (15 September 2020)
26. ^ (in Ukrainian) Kernes had kidney failure, Ukrayinska Pravda (11 December 2020)
27. ^ Kharkiv mayor Kernes dies, Ukrinform (16 December 2020)
Помер Геннадій Кернес: мер Харкова, який виграв вибори з реанімації, BBC Ukrainian (17 December 2020) (in Ukrainian)
28. ^ (in Ukrainian) Terekhov officially became the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukrayinska Pravda (11 November 2021)