Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev won 82.45% of votes in Sunday’s snap election, an exit poll carried out by the “Open Society” research institute showed on Monday, APA reports citing Reuters.
The 69-year-old former diplomat had been widely expected to extend his rule over the oil-rich nation by seven years and get a strong mandate to continue his increasingly independent foreign policy.
Voter turnout stood at 69.44%, with five other candidates scoring in the low single digits, data showed. The second most popular option picked by voters was “against everyone”, with 5.8% of ballots.