Today, the Central Election Commission of Mongolia will announce the preliminary results of Sunday's elections to the State Great Khural (parliament). “The vote counting system in Mongolia is so complex that if you count the votes ten times, you will get different results ten times,” said Sumati Luvsandendev, head of the Mongolian public foundation Sant Maral. Yesterday, one and a half million Mongols over the age of 18 elected 76 parliamentarians from 356 candidates. Due to the threat of unrest in the capital Ulaanbaatar on election day, the sale of alcohol was banned, and the police and internal troops were put on high alert ahead of time. To avoid violations, those who voted were marked on their index finger with a special marker.
12 parties and one coalition competed for seats in parliament, but the main struggle was between the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP) and the opposition Democratic Party of Mongolia. A notable topic of pre-election discussions was the idea of the former ex-Prime Minister of Mongolia, opposition leader 45-year-old Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, to attract voters with the right to receive a “share of natural resources” in the amount of 1 million tugriks ($860). Before the elections, the ruling MPRP also distributed vouchers that would give each citizen of the country 1.5 million tugriks ($1,300) from the Gifts of the Motherland fund, created from royalties from the exploitation of mineral deposits.
