"As many as 83,000-84,000 voters voted," he said. "In all, about 130,000 Abkhazians were included on the voting lists. As of 9 a.m. Moscow time, 63% of voters had taken part in the elections."
According to Mr. Smyr, all the polling stations had not provided their information yet. "Complete information is only available from Sukhumi," he said, "and other districts have only submitted partial results. However, all chairmen of the district commissions who have not submitted their information to the Central Election Commission yet, are due to arrive at the Central Election Commission with their materials and voting slips this morning."
"We will provide information about the figures and percentage in portions," he said, "but will not announce the outcome of the elections yet, as the Central Election Commission's is very responsible and we want our information to be accurate."
Five candidates ran for president in Abkhazia: Sergei Bagapsh, director general of the state-run Chernomorenergo company; Yakub Lakoba, leader of the People's Party; Anri Dzhergenia, former prime minister; Raul Khadzhimba, Abkhazian prime minister; and Sergei Shamba, former foreign minister.
The Abkhazian presidential term is five years.
The candidate supported by over a half of the participating voters is elected president.
If none of the candidates is elected, the Central Election Commission holds a runoff election between the two leading candidates. The runoff is not scheduled until two weeks after the initial elections.
