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All ballots counted in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk referendum

The results of the referendum in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic will be announced at 4.00 pm Moscow time (GMT+3)

© EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

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Referendums in east Ukraine

KIEV, May 12. /ITAR-TASS/. The results of the referendum in Donetsk will be announced at around 4.00 pm Moscow time (GMT+3) , as 100% of ballots have already been counted, head of the Central Election Commission at the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic Roman Lyagin told ITAR-TASS.

“All ballots have already been counted,” he said, adding that as many as 89.7% voted in favor of independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic, 10.19% voted against it, and 0.74% of ballot papers were found invalid. “Now we are waiting for wet stamp protocols to arrive from ballot stations. It all depends on the delivery. After we receive them, we will compare the protocols with the data transmitted to the Central Election Commission,” he said.

A total of 2,252,960 (or 89.7%) out of 2,511,441 respondents polled said "yes"; 256,040 people voted against, and 2,534 ballot papers have been rejected as invalid.

The CEC “hopes to finalize checking of protocols by 3.00 pm Moscow time (GMT+3) and announce referendum results at a news conference,” Lyagin said.

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