At least three exit polls in Kazakhstan suggest that the country's long-time President Nursultan Nazarbayev will stay in power for another seven year term.
Two exit polls give Mr. Nazarbayev at least 85 percent of the vote in Sunday's election. His main challenger, opposition leader Zharmakhan Tuyakbai, is in second place with about eight percent. But another exit poll puts Mr. Nazarbayev's support at 77 percent, with 13-and-a-half percent voting for Mr. Tuyakbai.
The Central Election Commission said that two hours before most of the country's polls closed, turnout was 68 percent. Preliminary results are expected on Monday. More than 15-hundred observers were on hand. Included were monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which expressed reservations about the fairness of the campaign.