Below is a press release issued by the UNPO:

Sukhum, Abkhazia, 27 August 2011 - An international team of UNPO election observers deployed on 24 August 2011 have concluded their observations of voting during the third Abkhazian presidential elections to have been held since the republic’s declaration of independence in 1991. 

Observing electoral activity in four of Abkhazia’s seven administrative districts on 26 August 2011, the EOM team made eight visits to polling stations.  In addition to observing voting in both urban and rural locales, the EOM monitored opening and closing procedures, tabulation of election results, and the transit of ballots to a CEC district office. In its observations the UNPO EOM did not find signs of any large-scale malpractice.  Nevertheless, scope exists for improvements in the election organization and the handling of ballot papers.

The UNPO EOM will continue its work in the coming days with meetings between the team and representatives of political parties, civil society, media, and church groups to hear different perspectives on the organization and conduct of the election, particularly in the Gal region.  These findings will be considered alongside the EOM’s initial pre-election meetings and election-day observations, ultimately feeding into the UNPO EOM report on the election that is expected to be released on 4 October 2011.

Having announced Alexander Ankvab as the winner of the elections today, the Abkhaz Central Election Commission (CEC) in its preliminary reporting indicate that president-elect Ankvab secured a majority of votes in the first round of voting with over 71% of votes cast.  The presidential polls come after a campaign period that proved tense and acrimonious at times and in an election environment of challenging circumstances.  It is expected that the CEC will confirm the election of president-elect Ankvab by 30 August 2011.

Speaking after the CEC press conference following the announcement of Alexander Ankvab´s victory, Andrew Swan, a member of the UNPO EOM team, believed that the elections ´had shown both the enthusiasm of Abkhaz voters and the confidence of CEC staff, many of whom now have several years´ valuable experience´.  UNPO EOM member and representative of the Transnational Radical Party, Matteo Angioli, noted that the team had been able to observe voting in the entire country ´from north to south and back to the north´ in support of the nonviolent and democratic values that united both organisations.

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