Presidential election in South Ossetia 2011

The 2011 presidential election in South Ossetia took place on November 13, 2011; her second ballot on November 27th. In South Ossetia around 52,000 citizens are entitled to vote, of which 17,000 live in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania of the Russian Federation. At the same time, a referendum was held on the status of the Russian language in South Ossetia. 84% of voters decided to give Russian the status of a state language in South Ossetia.

Candidates

17 candidates were accepted for election:

Soslan Tedety , commander of a special police force.
Sergei Bitiyev - Chief Bailiff of the South Ossetian Ministry of Justice.
Alan Kotayev - First Deputy President of South Ossetia.

Alla Dschiojewa - Former Minister of Education of South Ossetia.

Dmitri Tassoyev - leader of the "Social Democratic Party".

Alan Kochiev - leader of the South Ossetian movement "Ruchs Fidan".

Igor Alborov - employee of the Ministry of Defense of South Ossetia.

Eduard Gabaraev - Chief of Artillery of the Ministry of Defense of South Ossetia.

Wadim Zchowrebow - director of a bread factory in South Ossetia.

Georgi Kabissov - Chairman of the State Information and Press Committee.

Vladimir Kelechayev - entrepreneur.

Aivar Bestayev - head of the surgical department of the state hospital.

Alan Pliew - Deputy Foreign Minister South Ossetia.

Merab Chigoyev - Deputy Conflict Resolution Representative for the President.

Inal Basayev - Member of Parliament.

Anatoly Bibilov - Minister for Civil Protection of South Ossetia.

Jemal Djigkayev - Head of the Computer Diagnostics Office of the State Hospital.

Withdrawal of six candidates

On November 9, Merab Chigoyev withdrew his candidacy in favor of Anatoly Bibilov. On November 8, Aivar Bestayev withdrew his candidacy, in favor of Dmitri Tassoyev. On November 11, Inal Basayev and Igor Alborov gave up.

Candidates not admitted to election by the electoral commission

On October 14th, the Central Election Commission announced that the General Director of the Moscow construction company "Stroiprogress" Albert Dschoev and the entrepreneur Achsar Vaneyev would not be allowed to vote. The coach of the Russian national freestyle wrestling team, Dzambolat Tedejew , was also not admitted, with reference to the fact that he had not lived in South Ossetia without interruption for the last 10 years as prescribed.

Forecasts

Anatoly Bibilov , who is also supported by Russia and the previous president, Eduard Kokoity, is considered the favorite of the election . Georgi Kabissow has little chances, while opposition candidate Alla Dschiojewa has outsider chances .

First ballot

The results of the elections were announced on Monday morning, November 14th. In the first ballot, according to the preliminary results of the Central Election Committee of South Ossetia, Alla Dschiojewa achieved the best result with 24.6% of the vote, followed by Anatoly Bibilov with 23.8% of the vote.

Dschiojewa and Bibilow thus move into the second ballot. The second ballot will take place on November 27th and will be decided by a simple majority of the votes; the result of the second ballot is valid if at least 30% of the eligible voters participate in the election.

Official results of the first ballot

candidate	function	proportion of
Anatoly Bibilov	Minister for Civil Protection of South Ossetia	25.44%
Alla Dschiojewa	Former Minister of Education of South Ossetia	25.37%
Wadim Zchowrebow	Director of a bread factory in Tskhinvali	9.14%
Dmitri Tassoyev	Leader of the "Social Democratic Party"	9.1%
Alan Kotayev	First Deputy Chairman of Tskhinvali	9.62%
Georgi Kabissov	Chairman of the State Information and Press Committee.	7.53%
Vladimir Kelechayev	Member of Parliament, entrepreneur	6.36%
Sergei Bitiyev	Chief Bailiff of the South Ossetian Ministry of Justice.	3.33%
Soslan Tedety	Commander of the SOBR force of the Ministry of Interior of South Ossetia	1.14%
Jemal Jigkayev	Former Minister of Health, Head of the Computer Diagnostics Cabinet of the State Hospital.	0.95%
Alan Pliew	Deputy Foreign Minister of South Ossetia.	0.86%
Against all	(without)	0.47%
voter turnout		67.05%

Second ballot

Alla Dschiojewa and Anatoly Bibilov took part in the second ballot, which took place on November 27, 2011. The result of the second ballot was valid because at least 30% of the eligible voters took part in the election. Heavy snow fell on election day, but the Transcaucasian trunk road and the access to the Roki Tunnel were cleared of snow so that the numerous South Ossetians living in North Ossetia could also take part in the election. In order to facilitate participation in the election, numerous minibuses, so-called "GAZellen", were organized by both candidates ; there were mobile urns for sick or elderly voters.

According to the information from the Central Election Commission of South Ossetia, the turnout in the second ballot was 61.21%. It was lowest in Tskhinvali . However, the Georgians expelled from South Ossetia in 2008 and the Georgians still residing in South Ossetia ( Achalgori Rajon ) did not take part in the election.

Official results of the second ballot

According to preliminary results, Alla Dschiojewa is ahead of Anatoly Bibilov after 22 of 85 electoral districts have been counted. Alla Dschiojewa was able to unite 8955 votes, Bibilow 6205.

Delays in announcing the results of the second round of voting

On Monday, November 28th, the final election result was still not announced by the Central Election Committee, headed by Bella Pliyeva. After 74 of the 85 electoral districts were counted, Djijoeva led with 56.7% of the vote, ahead of Bibilov with 40% of the vote. Nevertheless, no result has yet been published on the official website of the election committee (cik.ruo.su). The final result will be announced by December 3rd; According to the South Ossetian constitution, the elected president must take office 10 days after the election. After the looming defeat, Anatoly Bibilov filed a complaint against the election of Djioiev even before the detailed election results were known. Bibilov's defeat is also seen as the defeat of Russia's policy with regard to North Ossetia - various actors from the Kremlin and Duma had openly sided with Bibilov in the run-up to the election.