Senegal reports high voter turnout

DAKAR, Senegal — Senegalese voted Sunday in a tightly contested presidential race after months of uncertainty and unrest that have tested the West African nation’s reputation as a stable democracy in a region shaken by a wave of coups in recent years.

The election comes after President Macky Sall unsuccessfully tried to postpone the Feb. 25 vote until the end of the year, sparking violent protests. Sall is barred by the constitution from seeking a third term. As a result, the vote is taking place during Ramadan, the holy month when observant Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

Vote-counting began in the early evening in a tense atmosphere in some parts of the country. In St. Louis, a major fishing town, a crowd booed and threw stones at a government delegation that entered a polling station after the polls closed.

Observers said turnout among the more than 7 million registered voters appeared to be high in the morning, though more precise figures would be available later. Babacar Gueye, who heads Senegal’s COSCE civil society network of observers, said participation was important to give the election legitimacy.

“At the opening of polling stations today, I have never in the past 15 years seen so many people going to vote,” he told The Associated Press.

Lines formed outside polling stations around Dakar, the capital. Roads were quiet as the nation’s elite police force was deployed across the city in armored vehicles, checking voters’ cards. Official results are expected next week, but the leading candidates said they would already know the first results Sunday night.

In the run-up to Sunday’s election, opposition leader Ousmane Sonko was released from prison last week, triggering jubilant celebrations on the streets of Dakar and renewed excitement about the contest. Sonko was barred from running because of a prior conviction for defamation and is backing his key ally Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who was also freed from prison last week.

At the forefront of concerns for many Senegalese voters is the economy, which has been squeezed by high food and energy prices partly driven by the war in Ukraine. Almost a third of Senegal’s youths are unemployed, according to the independent researcher Afrobarometer, driving thousands to risk their lives on dangerous journeys in search of jobs in the West.

Senegal has stood apart in a region where the military has seized power from civilian governments in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. The election is set to be the nation’s fourth democratic transfer of power since it gained independence from France in 1960.

Despite Senegal’s record, the electoral process over the past year has been marred by violence and unrest, with dozens killed and hundreds of opposition protesters jailed. There are 19 candidates in the race, including one woman, the highest number in the nation’s history, although two of them dropped out to support the team backed by Sonko.