President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was leading the presidential polls in the southern Turkish province of Kahramanmaraş, the epicenter of the devastating Feb. 6 twin earthquakes.

With 82.99% of the ballot boxes open, President Erdoğan received around 71.11% votes in the presidential elections on Sunday, according to the preliminary results.

The Nation Alliance candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu ranks second with 22.9% of the votes.

The Feb. 6 twin earthquakes ripped through 11 provinces, killing over 50,000 people. They toppled hundreds of thousands of buildings and devastated the region's infrastructure.

With around 67.55% of the ballot boxes counted, preliminary results put Erdoğan ahead in nine of 11 provinces in the quake zone, including Adıyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, Şanlıurfa and Elazığ.

More than 64 million people, including 3.4 million overseas voters, were eligible to vote. This year marks 100 years since Türkiye's establishment as a republic.

Voter turnout in Türkiye is traditionally strong.