2017 Mongolian presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Mongolia on 26 June 2017. Incumbent President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, first elected in 2009 and re-elected in 2013, was constitutionally barred from running for a third term.[2] For the first time, no candidate received a majority of the vote in the first round, forcing a run-off between Khaltmaagiin Battulga and Miyeegombyn Enkhbold on 7 July, brought forward from 9 July.[3][4][5] The third-placed candidate Sainkhuugiin Ganbaatar refused to recognise the results after he missed out on the second round due to finishing 1,849 behind Enkhbold, claiming that an additional 35,000 votes had been added to the total and there had been fraud. His Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party demanded a recount of votes in Bayan-Ölgii.[6]

2017 Mongolian presidential election

26 June 2017 (first round)
7 July 2017 (second round)

Majority of the popular vote needed to prevent a run-off
 
Nominee Khaltmaagiin Battulga Miyeegombyn Enkhbold
Party DP MPP
Popular vote 611,226 497,067
Percentage 55.15%[n 1] 44.85%[n 2]

Second round results. Blue denotes provinces and Ulaanbaatar districts won by Battulga and red denotes those won by Enkhbold. Darker shades represent a majority (more than half), lighter shades represent pluralities.

President before election

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj
DP

Elected President

Khaltmaagiin Battulga
DP

In the second round, Battulga was narrowly elected with 50.61% of the valid votes, or 55% of the votes cast for a candidate.

Electoral system

The President of Mongolia is elected using the two-round system.[7] Mongolia's electoral law consider the blank votes casts in presidential elections as valid votes. The General Election Commission thus includes blank votes in its calculations of the proportion of the vote won by each candidate; as a result, it is possible for no candidate to receive a majority of the vote in the second round. If this happens, the entire election is annulled and fresh elections would be held with new candidates.[8]

Candidates

Three parties were eligible to put forward a presidential candidate; the Mongolian People's Party (MPP), the Democratic Party (DP) and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party (MPRP).[9] The candidates selected are:

The MPRP had originally selected Nambaryn Enkhbayar as its candidate at a conference on 5 May. However, the Mongolian Election Commission refused to allow Enkhbayar to run as a candidate as he has an outstanding criminal record and has not spent the last five years in the country, having lived abroad from August 2013 until October 2014. As a result, the party selected Sainkhuugiin Ganbaatar as its candidate. The party's sole MP, Oktyabriin Baasankhüü, was opposed to Ganbaatar's nomination and left the party.[11]

Use of blank vote as strategic voting

With the election being the first time a second round was needed, it became apparent the electoral law was imprecise on the rule of campaigning in between the two rounds. The lack of clear rule was interpreted by the General Commission for Elections (GCE) as an interdiction on political campaign. Sainkhüügiin Ganbaatar, who narrowly missed the second round, began a campaign calling to cast a blank vote, so as to have none of the remaining candidate reach the 50% threshold needed, leading to a new election. While not a campaign for a candidate per se, this was nonetheless ruled by the GCE as an electoral campaign, and thus forbidden. In the second round, 99,494 blank vote were gathered, totalling 8.23% of the total of valid votes, failing close to the intended result by a few thousand votes.[12]

Results

With the blank votes being officially included Battulga passed the 50% threshold by just 7,333 votes (50.61%).

CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Khaltmaagiin BattulgaDemocratic Party517,47838.64611,22655.15
Miyeegombyn EnkhboldMongolian People's Party411,74830.75497,06744.85
Sainkhüügiin GanbaatarMongolian People's Revolutionary Party409,89930.61
Total1,339,125100.001,108,293100.00
Valid votes1,339,12598.631,108,29391.76
Invalid/blank votes18,6631.3799,4948.24
Total votes1,357,788100.001,207,787100.00
Registered voters/turnout1,978,29868.631,990,78760.67
Source: GEC, GEC

By area

First round
Subdivision
K. Battulga
DP
M. Enkhbold
MPP
S. Ganbaatar
MPRP
Aimags of Mongolia
Arkhangai 12,398 31.47% 12,059 30.61% 14,932 37.90%
Bayan-Ölgii 14,218 36.68% 19,332 49.88% 5,205 13.43%
Bayankhongor 23,886 60.44% 11,497 29.09% 4,137 10.46%
Bulgan 8,585 32.23% 7,782 29.22% 10,263 38.53%
Govi-Altai 6,565 27.06% 9,592 39.54% 8,101 33.39%
Dornogovi 9,206 32.44% 9,535 33.60% 9,635 33.95%
Govisümber 2,414 34.47% 2,031 29.00% 2,557 36.51%
Dornod 10,288 33.94% 8,092 26.70% 11,924 39.34%
Dundgovi 5,414 27.67% 5,142 26.28% 9,004 46.03%
Zavkhan 12,022 38.46% 12,505 40.01% 6,726 21.52%
Övörkhangai 14,624 31.50% 17,908 38.58% 13,883 29.91%
Ömnögovi 8,087 30.16% 7,238 26.99% 11,484 42.83%
Sükhbaatar 9,320 33.58% 10,023 36.11% 8,411 30.30%
Selenge 14,844 32.28% 15,619 33.96% 15,519 33.75%
Töv 11,253 27.67% 16,546 40.69% 12,855 31.62%
Uvs 10,355 30.67% 16,698 49.46% 6,703 19.85%
Khovd 10,060 29.58% 13,724 40.35% 10,221 30.05%
Khövsgöl 17,420 32.24% 18,802 34.80% 17,804 32.95%
Khentii 11,253 36.04% 7,804 24.99% 12,162 38.95%
Darkhan-Uul 12,427 30.05% 12,565 30.39% 16,351 39.54%
Orkhon 14,771 34.28% 9,863 22.89% 18,451 42.82%
Düüreg of Ulaanbaatar
Khan-Uul 34,595 46.50% 21,027 28.26% 18,761 25.22%
Baganuur 4,275 35.34% 4,077 33.71% 3,742 30.94%
Bagakhangai 509 25.94% 1,104 56.26% 349 17.78%
Bayanzürkh 67,336 45.21% 37,911 25.45% 43,661 29.32%
Nalaikh 5,542 34.28% 4,172 25.81% 6,450 39.90%
Sükhbaatar 29,407 46.50% 18,303 28.94% 15,524 24.55%
Chingeltei 31,065 43.39% 17,591 24.57% 22,923 32.02%
Bayangol 48,314 50.59% 25,831 27.04% 21,350 22.35%
Songino Khairkhan 63,978 38.47% 36,286 25.86% 50,022 35.65%
Overseas 2,979 63.19% 995 21.10% 740 15.69%
Total 517,478 38.10% 411,748 30.30% 409,899 30.19%
Second round
Subdivision
K. Battulga
DP
M. Enkhbold
MPP
Aimags of Mongolia
Arkhangai 16,763 47.43% 15,559 43.91%
Bayan-Ölgii 16,201 42.11% 21,306 55.38%
Bayankhongor 23,085 64.65% 11,944 33.45%
Bulgan 11,568 49.95% 9,360 40.42%
Govi-Altai 8,334 40.51% 10,793 52.46%
Dornogovi 11,657 44.86% 12,456 47.93%
Govisümber 2,764 42.13% 3,331 50.77%
Dornod 13,535 51.52% 10,271 39.09%
Dundgovi 6,420 36.93% 8,243 47.42%
Zavkhan 14,632 48.99% 13,993 46.85%
Övörkhangai 20,209 48.46% 19,001 45.57%
Ömnögovi 10,258 48.14% 8,412 39.48%
Sükhbaatar 11,628 48.51% 10,860 45.31%
Selenge 18,381 44.16% 20,032 48.12%
Töv 14,562 40.22% 19,192 53.01%
Uvs 12,172 39.23% 17,367 55.97%
Khovd 13,135 44.10% 14,451 48.52%
Khövsgöl 24,135 49.20% 21,550 43.93%
Khentii 14,452 53.75% 9,658 35.92%
Darkhan-Uul 16,496 45.54% 16,154 44.59%
Orkhon 20,042 53.78% 12,452 33.41%
Düüreg of Ulaanbaatar
Khan-Uul 38,047 56.19% 23,476 34.67%
Baganuur 5,193 47.71% 4,791 44.02%
Bagakhangai 682 36.73% 1,108 59.67%
Bayanzürkh 75,765 55.11% 49,030 35.66%
Nalaikh 6,979 45.52% 7,068 46.10%
Sükhbaatar 32,634 55.60% 20,717 35.30%
Chingeltei 34,807 54.02% 23,382 36.29%
Bayangol 51,596 58.63% 29,102 33.07%
Songino Khairkhan 64,272 50.87% 50,343 39.85%
Overseas 2,030 75.86% 497 18.57%
Total 611,226 50.61% 497,067 41.16%

Notes

  1. 50.61% in the official results.[1]
  2. 41.16% in the official results.[1]

References

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