TBILISI, DFWatch – More than 13 percent of voters in Georgia’s breakaway region South Ossetia had cast their vote in the presidential election by 10:00 in the morning.

The Central Election Commission of the region says this is a higher turnout than in the first round.

Voting will end at 20:00. For the election to be valid, more than 30 percent of voters must take part.

Former KGB local head Leonid Tibilov competes against presidential human rights commissioner David Sanakoev. Kremlin favorite Dmitry Medoyev did not get through to the second round. This was the second time a Kremlin favorite lost in South Ossetia.

Presidential elections were also held in November, but were cancelled. Opposition leader Alla Dzhioyeva beat Kremlin favorite Anatoly Bibilov. But the election was declared invalid after a complaint about violations and a new election rescheduled for March 25. Neither Dzhioyeva no Bibilov competed in the rescheduled elections.

More than forty international observers monitor today’s elections in the de facto republic South Ossetia.

“Forty-three observers are parliaments, socio-political and non-governmental organizations in Russia, France, Abkhazia, as well as the Dniester Moldavian Republic and the Nagorno-Karabakh,” Russian news agency Ria Novost writes, quoting Murat Dzhioyev, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the de facto republic. He noted that voting has begun not only in the region, but also at a polling station in Moscow.

Preliminary results will be announced 23:00 today.