The Central Election Commission said that at 8 a.m. Moscow time 75 polling stations were opened to let the 35,000 of South Ossetian voters elect 34 legislators until 8 p.m.
Fifteen seats in parliament will be filled by political parties - either Yedinstvo (Unity), or the Communist Party of South Ossetia, or the People's Party. Another 15 deputies will be elected from single-member constituencies, and four seats are reserved for candidates from areas predominantly populated by ethnic Georgians.
About twenty Russian and Georgian journalists work at the election.
As of 1 p.m. Moscow time, the turnover was 52%, with only 50% needed to legitimize the election. Preliminary results will come up by midnight.
According to the Central Election Commission, the election is going on smoothly, without violations reports from observers.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Speaker of the South Ossetian parliament Stanislav Kochiyev said that the situation in the republic was rather complicated. The so-called peaceful settlement of the Adzharian crisis, in the end of which long-time governor of the region Aslan Abashidze actually fled from Adzharia onboard Russian mediator Igor Ivanov's plane, local politicians believe, could inspire Tbilisi to seek to regain control over its former provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia that proclaimed independence in the wake of bloody ethnic clashes in early 1990s.
The South Ossetian speaker said that "various political groups used unacceptable electioneering methods during the election campaign, which can have negative consequences." According to Kochiyev, some parliamentary candidates' and officials' declarations on South Ossetia's political prospects are dangerous and could lead to even worse relations between Tskhinvali (South Ossetian capital) and Tbilisi. (Prominent local politicians, including President Eduard Kokoity, have repeatedly associated the future of the republic with Russia. North Ossetia which is just over the Caucasian Crest has long been a Russian province.) The speaker said, "today we need painstaking work on rebuilding South Ossetia's economy, strengthening the republic's political status, and consolidating the society, rather than pompous declarations."
