Ballot irregularities and surge for pro-Putin party mark vitally important Kyrgyzstan’s elections | Democracy, elections and voting at Democracy Chronicles

The Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK), linked to pro-Moscow President Almazbek Atambayev, has topped the parliamentary election in the ex-Soviet state, with five other pro-Russian parties also winning seats. Results released by the country’s Central Electoral Commission on Sunday showed the SDPK, founded by Atambayev, topping the hard-fought poll with close to 27 percent of…