Ninety-nine percent of voters at a referendum in the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia supported independence for their territory, officials there said on Tuesday.
With nearly all ballots counted from Sunday's voting, the region's unrecognised president Eduard Kokoity was also re-elected, polling 96 percent, officials said.
Final results were to be issued within five days.
The poll was not monitored by Western observers and Georgia and the international community have said they will not recognise the result, which some groups fear has only exacerbated regional tensions.
The leadership of the tiny region in the foothills of the Caucasus mountains maintains that the referendum is a first step towards international acceptance and eventual union with Russia.
Moscow, which has backed the rebel authorities in South Ossetia while not explicitly endorsing full-blown independence, said the vote had a "symbolic character."
The Finnish EU presidency discounted the vote saying it could not have been held fairly.
"The situation in South Ossetia did not allow the free expression of the popular will," a statement from the presidency said.