Uzbekistan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) says preliminary results from the country’s presidential election will be announced at 4 pm local time on December 5.
CEC Chairman Mirza-Ulugbek Abdusalomov made the announcement shortly after polls closed on December 4 in a vote that will determine a new leader following the death in early September of longtime autocratic ruler Islam Karimov.
Abdusalomov said the official turnout was 87.83%, with more than 17.9 million out of some 20 million eligible voters taking part.
Acting President Shavkat Mirziyaev, who had been the country’s prime minister since 2003, is widely expected to win a five-year term in the election after he moved quickly to consolidate his power in the wake of Karimov’s death.
There are three other candidates on the ballot: Khatamjon Ketmanov of the People’s Democratic Party, Sarvar Otamuratov of the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party, and Nariman Umarov of the Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party, RFE/RL reports.
