A complete ballot count has showed that 96.77 percent of Crimean voters have voted to join Russia. Referendum Commission Chairman Mikhail Malyshev told a press briefing that the referendum saw a massive turnout, with 81.3 percent of the eligible voting population participating.
"The number of votes in the Crimean referendum in support of the first question of whether you are for joining Russia as a subject of the Russian Federation is comprised of 1,233,002 persons, which corresponds to 96.77 percent," said Mikhail Malyshev, head of Crimean Referendum Commission.
He said that this meant more Crimeans were in favor of reunification with Russia. Crimeans in Simferopol were seen celebrating the outcome of the referendum late Sunday night and early Monday morning.
Most, when asked, expressed their confidence this, the third such referendum in the peninsula’s history, would direct them "home" to Russia. Western powers and leaders in Kiev denounced the vote as a sham. Some western leaders have planned to move swiftly to punish Russia with economic sanctions.
