Kenya Presidential Candidate Hovers Near 50 Pct The leading candidate in Kenya's presidential election, Uhuru Kenyatta, saw his percentage of the vote yo-yo just below the 50 percent mark early Saturday, a race too tight to call with only a few votes outstanding. The election commission said just after midnight that it would announce final results at 11 a.m. Kenya time, an announcement that ended any concerns of overnight violence by supporters of a losing candidate. A win by Kenyatta could greatly affect Kenya's relations with the West because the candidate faces charges at the International Criminal Court for his alleged role in directing some of Kenya's 2007 postelection violence. The U.S. and other nations may scale back ties to the East African nation if he becomes president. The last tally posted early Saturday showed Kenyatta, the deputy prime minister, with 49.71 percent of the vote with 98 percent of locations - 285 of 291 - tabulated. Kenyatta had bounced as high as 51 percent Friday night as the election commission updated returns. Electoral expert Tom Wolf, a research analyst with the polling firm Ipsos Synovate, told The Associated Press that the late votes coming in from Kenya's Rift Valley were a "very abundant vote basket" for Kenyatta. His running mate, William Ruto, who faces similar ICC charges, is from the Rift. One of presidential candidate Raila Odinga's campaign team makes a phone call after another member of his team made allegations of electoral improprieties at a press conference held by the election commission chairman, at the National Election Center in Nairobi, Kenya Friday, March 8, 2013. Kenya faced a photo finish in its race for president on Friday as the last ballots were counted, with the leading candidate Uhuru Kenyatta seeing his percentage yo-yo around the crucial 50 percent mark. "On a scale of zero to 10, it seems to be about a seven or eight that he'll probably just get over" the 50 percent mark, said Wolf. I would be a little bit more surprised if he didn't get over 50 than if he did, but neither one on the face of it would be a complete surprise. The other leading candidate is Prime Minister Raila Odinga. His campaign manager, Eliud Owalo, told AP late Friday that the prime minister's team believes there will be a run-off. If Odinga loses, his camp will likely launch a legal challenge. Odinga had 43.5 percent of the vote in Friday's last tally. Odinga's camp abruptly called a news conference late Friday and just as abruptly rescheduled it for after the announcement of final results. Despite the Odinga optimism, a Western election observer said the international community was forming a consensus around the belief Kenyatta was likely to win outright. The observer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal diplomatic talks. There was also a belief that Odinga was not likely to protest the vote in a manner that would increase the chances of violence, the observer said, but rather honor his pledge to respect the result and petition the courts with any grievances. The Kenyan capital has been sleepy since Monday's vote for president, the country's first election since its 2007 vote sparked tribe-on-tribe violence that killed more than 1,000 people. But security forces in riot gear took to the streets Friday in regions of the city that could turn tumultuous after results are announced. The prime minister's supporters took to the streets after Odinga in 2007 said he had been cheated. In Kibera, Nairobi's largest slum and a bastion of Odinga support, many believe this year's results have been rigged as well. "If you look at the way the tallying is being done there is rigging," said Isiah Omondi, 27. If Uhuru wins and wins fairly, we don't have a problem with him. He can be our president. But not like this.