Ukraine kicks off 2nd-round presidential election

Ukrainians were casting their ballots on Sunday to choose between actor Volodymyr Zelensky and incumbent President Petro Poroshenko in the second round of the country's presidential election.

The polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and will close at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT).

More than 30.3 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots at over 29,900 polling stations in 199 electoral districts across the country, addition to polling stations abroad.

Over 130,000 law enforcement officers have been deployed across the country to maintain order.

Ukraine's President and presidential candidate Petro Poroshenko (L) attends a policy debate with his rival, comedian Volodymyr Zelenskiy, at the National Sports Complex Olimpiyskiy stadium in Kiev, Ukraine, April 19, 2019. /Reuters Photo

Ukraine's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has registered 2,700 international observers from 21 countries and 20 international organizations to monitor the voting process in the election runoff.

In the first round of the presidential election on March 31, Zelensky and Poroshenko garnered 30.24 percent and 15.95 percent of the votes, respectively.

Since no candidate got more than 50 percent, the top two compete in the runoff.

The results of the second round are set to be announced by the CEC by May 1 and the new president is expected to take office no later than June 3.

(CGTN)