Local officials say voter turnout has exceeded 50 percent in all districts of Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region, which is choosing a new legislature for the unrecognized, Russian-supported area. The Georgian Foreign Ministry condemned the March 12 voting in the Black Sea region as "yet another attempt to legitimize the ethnic purge, military intervention, occupation, and results of Russian aggression being carried out against Georgian statehood." Russia recognized Abkhazia and breakaway South Ossetia as independent countries after fighting a five-day war against Tbilisi in 2008 and maintains thousands of troops in the two regions. Election officials say that 137 candidates from four political parties -- the Forum of National Unity of Abkhazia of de facto President Raul Khajimba, and the opposition parties Aynar, Amtsakhara, and the National Front for Justice and Developmentb -- are taking part in the elections. With reporting by civil.ge, apsny.ge, Interfax, and TASS
People in the breakaway state of Abkhazia go to the polls for an election.