32 million votes cast in elections

In an unprecedented turnout, nearly 32 million Iranians cast their votes on Friday, June 12, at the 10th presidential elections, early reports say. According to Press TV's correspondent at the Election Commission Headquarters, Gissoo Ahmadi, based on unofficial statistics, out of 46 million eligible voters, nearly 32 million voted. Iranian citizens abroad also flocked into Iran's diplomatic missions in 130 countries to cast their ballots. Polls were originally due to close at 18:00 local time (1330 GMT) but polling stations were ordered by the Interior Ministry to remain open until 22:00 local time as voters continued to stream to polling stations. Iran's Election Commission Chief, Kamran Daneshjoo, announced early Saturday that incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was leading the polls with 69.04 percent of the votes in the preliminary results. Out of 19.42 percent of the votes counted until 23:54 local time (20:24 GMT), Mir Hossein Mousavi stood at second place with 28.42 percent of the votes. If no candidate gets an absolute majority of the votes in the first round, the two front-runners will face a run-off vote on June 19. RZS/SME