As widely predicted, Chechen Interior Minister Major General Alu Alkhanov was elected on 29 August to succeed slain pro-Moscow leader Akhmad-hadji Kadyrov. According to preliminary returns from all polling stations, Alkhanov garnered 73.48 percent of the vote; FSB Colonel Movsur Khamidov garnered 5.94 percent; former Kadyrov aide Vakha Visaev 4.72 percent; former Chechen Deputy Prime Minister Abdulla Bugaev 4.52 percent; Chechenkhimnefteprom General Director Umar Abuev 2.9 percent; Chechen State Council staffer Mukhmud-Khasan Asakov 2.57 percent; and businessman Magomed Aidamirov 0.67 percent. Voter turnout was 85.24 percent of the republic\'s 584,998 registered voters. That turnout figure is difficult to reconcile with a 29 August report by \"The New York Times\" that residents were streaming out of Grozny the previous day to avoid voting. On 29 August, acting Chechen Interior Minister Ruslan Alkhanov denied that residents were leaving the city, telling Interfax that \"the streets of Grozny are filled with people and voting is proceeding actively.\" (RFE/RL)