Former revolutionary leader Daniel Ortega is headed for victory in Nicaragua's presidential election.
The former president and Sandinista leader appears to have easily defeated two conservative candidates.
In a sample of 10% of polling statsion, Mr Ortega had 38.5% of the vote and a lead of nine points over conservative Eduardo Montealegre.
Jose Rizo, another conservative, came third with 24.15%.
The Supreme Electoral Council also announced a partial count that showed Mr Ortega easily topping the 35% needed to win outright and avoid a run-off election.
The US administration is facing renewed criticism after its monitoring team raised questions about the voting.
During the campaign, Washington had urged Nicaraguans to defeat Mr Ortega, whose Soviet-backed Sandinista government seized private assets, distributed land to poor peasants and battled US-financed Contra rebels for a decade before he was voted out of office in 1990.
Mr Ortega has dramatically toned down his revolutionary rhetoric, picked a former Contra as a running mate, and vowed he would strengthen democracy and battle poverty through 'peace, love and unity.'
Nicaraguans have also voted to renew the 91-member unicameral Congress, which currently includes 40 deputies of Mr Rizo's Liberal Constitutionalist Party, 38 Sandinistas and nine members from Mr Montealegre's National Liberal Alliance.
