Ruling party candidate Scioli leads Argentine primary elections

Argentina's ruling party candidate Daniel Scioli led Sunday's primary elections with 36.6 percent of the votes, initial results showed, as the voting stations closed at 6 p.m. local time (2100 GMT).

Scioli, governor of Buenos Aires province, was the only candidate for President Cristina Kirchner's Front for Victory party (FPV), while Mauricio Macri, mayor of the capital city, came second with 24.5 percent of the votes. They were among 15 contestants vying for president and vice president.

About 32 million citizens were registered to vote, though heavy rains made it difficult for people in rural areas to get to their polling stations.

Kirchner is constitutionally barred from running a third consecutive term. Her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner served one term before her.

Despite heavy inflation and criticisms of her brash rhetoric towards political opponents and other countries, Kirchner's support rating remained over 50 percent.

Unlike Kirchner, both Scioli and Macri's policies are more orthodox. Scioli promised a gradual change to open the economy, while Macri vowed to make the country more business friendly and strived to relieve all the restrictions on citizen's buying of U.S. dollars.

After the primary, the general elections are due on Oct. 25, when a president and vice president will be eventually elected.

Voting was compulsory for every citizen aged between 18 and 70 and was optional for 16- and 17-year-olds and also citizens over 70.