People lined up to vote all over Ukraine on Sunday to elect a new president and government. Following the turmoil that has engulfed the nation, many hope the elections will restore order to Ukraine and validate the revolution that overthrew the pro-Russian government.

However, rebels in the eastern part of the nation, which only a few weeks ago voted for autonomy, have vowed to stop the elections in the areas they control. In an attempt to ensure the validity of the elections, observers arrived in Ukraine on Saturday to monitor the voting. According to the New York Times, around 3,000 observers arrived in the country to oversee the elections in the eastern part of the nation.

More than half of the observers come from Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and will be stationed in the city of Donetsk, said Spencer Oliver, the secretary general of the organization's Parliamentary Assembly, to the Times.

The reason for their presence is the pro-Russian opposition's vow to disrupt the elections. Roman Lyagin, an official from the newly created and unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic, made his government's sentiments know. Despite the presence of observers, the pro-Russian groups have shut down some voting centers in their areas.

"There will be no presidential elections," Lyagin said. "An overwhelming majority of people don't want them."

Despite his vow to stop the elections, voting commenced Sunday morning. The AP reported that out of 2,430 polling stations in the greater Donetsk region only 426 were open with none in the city proper. Local officials in the province of Luhansk also reported there were no polling stations.

However, elections are continuing in the rest of the country. According to the AP, there are 21 candidates running; billionaire candy-maker Petro Poroshenko is the favorite to win. If no candidate wins a majority, there will be a runoff election on June 15.

The Ukrainian Election Commission reported that by 3 p.m. local time around 40 percent of the electorate had voted; however, it is not certain whether this will include the 5.1 million eligible voters in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The electoral body reported that only 26 percent of the vote had arrived from Donetsk and 16 from Luhansk, according to the AP.

It is uncertain how the vote will turn out. The only certainty is Poroshenko's success, but whether or not the eastern areas will support the new government remains up in the air.

While violence has mostly quelled in recent weeks, tensions continue in the region. Recently, an Italian photojournalist, Andrea Rocchelli, was killed with his interpreter, Andrey Minorov, in eastern Ukraine, according to the AP. Though their bodies have not been identified, a fellow journalist travelling with them said a mortar shell hit them as they were ducking for cover in a clash between separatists and government forces.