The Kenyan presidential candidate who faces charges at the International Criminal Court took an early lead Tuesday as votes were counted the day after the country's presidential election.
With about a third of the ballots counted, early results showed Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta ahead with 54 percent of the vote to Prime Minister Raila Odinga with 41 percent.
Isaak Hassan, the chairman of Kenya's electoral commission, said Tuesday that results from 10,000 polling stations are in, but officials await results from 23,000 more stations.
"Nobody should celebrate, nobody should complain," he said. "We therefore continue to appeal for patience from the public, the political parties as well as the candidates."
Either Kenyatta or Odinga need more than 50 percent of the vote to win, otherwise the two will contend in an April run-off. The vote commission has seven days to release certified results.
Hassan said the number of so-called spoiled ballots — votes that won't be counted for not complying with all the rules — was "quite worrying." An American election observer working for the group Sisi ni Amani Kenya — We Are Peace Kenya — said the more than a quarter million ballots thrown out indicate voter education efforts weren't as successful as they should have been.
Long lines formed around the country Monday. Election officials estimate that turnout was about 70 percent of 14 million registered voters. Attacks by separatists on the coast killed 19 people, and other attacks were seen near the border with Somalia, but the vast majority of the country voted in peace.
