Electoral Behavior of Voters in Ukraine in Crisis Times

Abstract

The article contains an analysis of the impact of the crisis situation on the electoral behavior during the national elections in Ukraine. For this purpose, the study highlights the pre-crisis, crisis and postcrisis periods. The criteria for a comparative analysis of the electoral behaviour during these periods are the peculiarities of territorial differentiation of voting and the degree of support for election participants, as well as the specifics of the turnout in the regions of Ukraine. It has been revealed that with the transition from one period to another there has been a transformation of the electoral behaviour of voters. The pre-crisis period was characterized by a significant electoral split in Ukraine between pro-Russian and pro-Western forces. The sharp decline in voter turnout in the South-East of the country during the crisis period led to a significant fall in the influence of the pro-Russian forces. In the western regions of Ukraine, on the contrary, during this period there was an increase in voter activity, which determined the emergence of new relevant political forces of a pro-Western nature. In the post-crisis period, turnout rates generally returned to pre-crisis levels. However, this did not lead to a full restoration of the electoral division of the country due to the geographically homogeneous support of V.A. Zelensky and his party «Servant of the People». A forecast is made, including three scenarios of transformation of the political system of Ukraine taking into account possible changes in the electoral behavior of voters.