Exit poll: Belarus' Lukashenko secures 7th term with 87.6% of vote

Alexander Lukashenko, the strongman who has ruled Belarus for three decades, secured a seventh term in power following an election on Sunday in which he faced no real competition.

State media reported that 70-year-old Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, garnered 87.6% of the vote, according to an exit poll.

The official vote count is said to be still under way. However, traditionally the exit poll is almost identical to the later announcement of the results by the election commission.

With opposition politicians either in exile or imprisoned, and the four alternative candidates seen as state-approved extras in a rigged election, it was seen as inevitable that Lukashenko would obtain another five-year term in the presidency.