NUR-SULTAN / ex ASTANA (euronews) — Kazakhs went to the polling stations in Nur-Sultan to cast their votes in the presidential election on Sunday. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has been elected Kazakh president with 71% of vote.

The newly elected president will serve for five years and is elected via a two round system, with two the top two candidates going into a runoff election should no one achieve an outright majority in the first round.

Former President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev came to polling station number 58 to cast his vote. He talked to locals on his way to the ballot box. Kazakhs chose between seven registered candidates with the incumbent President Kassym-Jormat Tokayev in the list.

Meanwhile, police in Kazakhstan arrested hundreds of protesters as the country’s 12 mln registered electors. According to AFP news agency, Kazakhstan’s deputy interior minister Marat Kozhayev said 500 people had been arrested at “unsanctioned rallies” angered by what they say is a sham vote with an outcome that is already fixed. Eye witness accounts said that police dragged protesters along the floor onto buses.