KIEV, Oct. 2 – The Socialist Party’s showing fell rapidly over the past 24 hours after President Viktor Yushchenko ordered the security service to take extra steps preventing vote manipulation and fraud.

The Socialist Party’s score fell to 2.88% of the vote with 98.55% of ballots counted, according to the Central Election Commission report late Tuesday. This compares with 3.08% reported for most of the previous day.