Nazarbayev Secures 97.7% in Kazakhstan’s Presidential Vote

Incumbent President Nursultan Nazarbayev gathered 97.7 percent of the votes in Kazakhstan's snap presidential election.

ASTANA (Sputnik) – Incumbent President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has gathered 97.7 percent of the votes in Kazakhstan's snap presidential election, preliminary results from the country's Central Election Commission revealed on Monday.

The final results will be available within seven days after the election, no later than May 3, according to the commission.

On Sunday, the head of the Institute of Democracy said that the research association's exit poll showed that Nazarbayev had secured 97.5 percent of the votes.

Nazarbayev, 74, has been the president of Kazakhstan since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. He was reelected for a fourth consecutive term in April, 2011.

Presidential elections were scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan next year, but Nazarbayev changed the date last month, explaining the move as a requirement to avoid political instability amid a global economic crisis.

No significant violations were reported by international or local observers at Kazakhstan's polling stations during the Sunday vote.