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Voting at Uzbekistan’s presidential elections over

The country has around 19.9 million eligible voters

© Vladimir Smirnov / TASS

TASHKENT, October 24. /TASS/. Voting at the presidential polls in Uzbekistan finished as polling stations closed at 20:00 local time (18:00 Moscow time).

A total of 9,925 polling stations were organized in the country and 54 polling stations and 380 mobile outlets were organized abroad. The country has around 19.9 million eligible voters. More than 400,000 of them took part in early voting from October 14 to 20. By 17:30 local time (15:30 Moscow time) on Sunday, the voter turnout exceeded 70% whereas 33% are needed to recognize the elections valid.

More than 53,000 law enforcers ensured law and order during the voting. Around 1,000 international observers from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the CIS Parliamentary Assembly, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the OSCE, UNESCO and others, as well as 268 observers from 41 countries monitored the voting. As many as 230 foreign and some 1,500 local journalists were accredited.

Exit polls are not conducted in Uzbekistan. Preliminary results of the voting will be announced by the Central Election Commission (CEC) on Monday morning. The final results will be released by October 31. The president elect will take office no later than two months after the elections.

Candidates are nominated only by political parties. There are five political parties in Uzbekistan. The oldest of them - Uzbekistan’s People’s Democratic Party - nominated its deputy leader Maksuda Vorisova. The Adolat (Justice) Social Democratic Party, the Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) Democratic Party and the Ecological Party nominated their leaders Bakhrom Abdukhalimov, Alisher Kodirov and Narzullo Oblomuradov. The country’s biggest and most influential Liberal Democratic Party of Uzbekistan nominated incumbent President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He swept the victory at the previous presidential polls in 2016.

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