Preliminary reports, provided by local elections commissions, indicate that 89.8% of the electorate in the Irkutsk region back the idea of a merger with the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous District, and 97.7% of voters in the autonomous district welcome the merger with the Irkutsk region.

According to the regional elections commission, 93.57% of ballot papres had been processed in the Irkutsk region by 7:30 a.m., local time, on Monday. And 100% of the votes had been processed in the autonomous district, District Elections Commission Secretary Vladimir Trusov told Interfax.

Voter turnout was 99,46% in the autonomous district, where 97.79% of the electors voted "yes" to the proposed merger and 1.55% "no," Trusov said.

The question asked in the referendum is: "Do you agree to a merger between the Irkutsk Region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous District into a new entity in the Russia Federation - the Irkutsk Region, in which the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous District will be an administrative- territorial part with a special status, laid down in the charter of the new entity, compliant with the Russian legislation." sd

Source: interfax