KIEV - April 1 (WNM staff/Newswires) With 10% of ballots counted, the Servant of the People political party candidate Vladimir Zelensky and current president Pyotr Poroshenko remain the leaders of the presidential race in Ukraine, but the margin is growing.

According to the Central Election Commission’s online vote count, Zelensky holds the lead with 29.66% of the vote, Poroshenko is the runner up, garnering 16.83%.

Mr Zelensky secured 30.4 per cent of the vote according to a survey by the Kiev-based Democratic Initiatives Foundation along with two domestic polling groups, the Financial Times reports.

The leader the Batkivshchyna party, Yulia Tymoshenko, trails closely behind with 13.75%. She is followed by Yuri Boyko, candidate from the Opposition Platform — For Life, who has 11.32%. The last candidate in the top five is Anatoly Gritsenko of the Civil Position party with 6.84%.

According to exit polls published after the polls were closed, Vladimir Zelensky and Pyotr Poroshenko enter the second round, which is scheduled for April 21.

Zelensky has become famous playing an honest school teacher who is unexpectedly elected president in the TV series Servant of the People.

The preliminary turnout stood at 63.48%, the country’s Central Election Commission said earlier in the day citing data obtained from 198 out of 199 district election commissions.