BAKU, Azerbaijan – The president of oil-rich Azerbaijan headed for re-election Wednesday with the opposition boycotting the vote and accusing the West of ignoring Azerbaijan's democratic shortfalls while seeking its energy riches.

Six candidates were running against President Ilham Aliyev, although none was considered a true challenge.

An exit poll pointed to an overwhelming victory for Aliyev, showing him receiving 80.5 percent of the vote, with the second-place candidate trailing far behind with just 5.4 percent.

The Rey polling agency is considered to be the most independent of Azerbaijan's three main pollsters and gave Aliyev the lowest percentage figure of the three. The agency's head said it surveyed 500 of Azerbaijan's more than 5,000 polling stations.

The top five opposition parties were all boycotting the ballot, claiming official fraud and pointing at a history of closing independent media and imprisoning opposition figures.

Despite the lack of suspense, the mood in the capital was buoyant, in marked contrast to the violence that marred the aftermath of the 2003 presidential elections. Hundreds of Aliyev's jubilant supporters streamed onto the streets shortly after polls closed.

Caravans of cars flying Azeri flags and bearing Aliyev's portraits clogged traffic near the boardwalk along the Caspian Sea.

Samir Mamevod, 35, dismissed opposition suggestions of vote rigging and said he would not be surprised if Aliyev won more than 90 percent of the vote.

“When a country is new in its independence, it needs a strong leader and stability for the first ten or twenty years,” the government social worker said. “We have such a leader in Ilham Aliyev.”

The election commission announced late Wednesday a preliminary turnout figure of 75.65 percent, up 4 percent on the previous vote.

Azerbaijan – a mountainous country of about 8 million people – is one of the world's leading energy exporters and sits on a key transport route for Caspian and Central Asian energy resources.

The presidential election Wednesday was Azerbaijan's fifth since the 1991 Soviet collapse, but many describe the country as being closer to a monarchy than a democracy. Aliyev is the son of Geidar Aliyev, who ruled Azerbaijan first as the Communist Party boss during the Soviet times and then as president in 1993-2003.

The election was being watched both in Moscow and Washington for signs of unrest, after the nearby war in August between neighbors Russia and Georgia.

Most of Azerbaijan's crude is sent to the Mediterranean through pipelines crossing Georgia, and the West hopes to persuade Azerbaijan to skirt Russia also in sending its natural gas to Europe.

As the nation's energy wealth has filtered through the population, however, the opposition has seen its support dwindle.

Opposition leaders have accused Western governments of not pressing Azerbaijan hard enough for reform, forsaking democracy in favor of stability and energy security.

“Why there should be such indifference to the future of democracy in Azerbaijan, so close to Europe?” said Ali Karimli, head of the Popular Front Party.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe – which sent more than 400 election observers – criticized the government for election campaign irregularities, including a ban on public opposition meetings and apparent efforts to coerce students and government workers into attending pro-Aliyev rallies.

It said an absence of genuine choice in candidates had resulted in tepid popular interest in the vote. Four hours after polls had opened, about one-third of the 4.8 million registered to vote had cast their ballots, the Central Election Commission said.

Baku resident Vugar Mamedov, 40, said he was not voting and neither were any of his friends.

“It's all for show. Every five years they trot out five new guys, but no one knows who they are,” he said. “It's just a show for the European Union and The United States. No one here cares.”

Azerbaijani authorities shrugged off the criticism, and said the support being shown to Aliyev was testament to the stability he has brought to the country.

Associated Press Writer Aida Sultanova contributed to this report.