Ulan Bator News

The three candidates in Monday's first-round poll fell well short of the absolute majority needed to secure the presidency, extending the drama of an election marked by corruption scandals.  

From its sprawling steppes to its capital and even in yurts serving as polling stations, people began to vote in the landlocked country sandwiched between Russia and China that was once viewed as an oasis of democracy full of economic promise.

The polls mainly involve candidates from three leading parties, who have offered different measures to ease the government's mounting debt pressure if elected to office, Xinhua news agency reported.

Mongolian Buddhism is closely related to the Tibetan tradition.  

Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton and US Vice President Joe Biden are among other top officials to have visited the country in recent years as America "pivots to Asia".