Iranian President and presidential candidate Hassan Rouhani casts his ballot at a polling station in Tehran, capital of Iran, on May 19, 2017. Large number of Iranians lined up in the polling stations on Friday to decide on the presidential seat for the next four years. (Xinhua/Iranian Presidential Office)
TEHRAN, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The preliminary vote count shows that Iran's incumbent President Hassan Rouhani is taking the lead in the presidential race so far, an Iranian election official announced in the state IRIB TV live broadcast.
Over 40 million voters participated in the presidential election on Friday, the chief of Iran's Election Bureau, Ali Asghar Ahmadi, said.
With 38,914,470 "correct" ballots counted, Rouhani has bagged 22,796,468 votes and his nearest challenger Ebrahim Raisi has got 15,452,194 votes, Ahmadi said.
Four candidates are vying for the Iranian presidency. Rouhani and Raisi are the main rivals in the race.
Over 56 million people were eligible to participate in the election.
The final results will be announced in the afternoon local time on Saturday, Ahmadi said.
