Counting is underway in Armenia's presidential election. With 75% of the ballots counted, Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan is clearly in the lead with almost 55% of the vote. This could bring him victory in the first round.
His main rival, the country's former President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, is far behind with just 18% of the vote. Nine candidates are running for the top position. Almost 70% of people eligible to vote and more than half of the 3.2 million population came out to cast their ballots. About 14,000 local and international observers have been monitoring the polls. They are yet to announce their verdicts, but the opposition claim there have been voting irregularities. A number of complaints have already been filed to the Central Election commission about the running of the polls. The opposition intend to hold a protest rally on Wednesday.