Paris's Senegalese community flooded
offices set up in the city's northern suburbs on Sunday, to vote for a new
president in Senegal's
contentious elections. President Abdoulaye Wade is up for a third term, amidst
violent protest during the campaigns.
Fifty-one voting centres
were established around Plaine-Saint-Denis and remained open from 7:30 a.m to 5
p.m. A total of 30,309 people have registered to vote and turnout was high at
midday.
Diagne Sy, who has lived in
France
for 45 years, told the AFP news agency, "I've come to vote for my future
president. It's a civil and moral responsibility."
Each voting centre has
posted electoral regulations to remind voters of standard procedure, as well as
a voting guide on the 13 candidates.
Among those running is
current President Wade, who at 85 is fighting for a controversial third term.
Wade recently instated a
new electoral mandate of seven years, which would allow him to run for a third
term. Wade has held power for the last 12 years.
Protests leading up to
Sunday's elections left six people dead.
On Saturday, Africa's top
envoy - Nigeria's
ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo - proposed a roadmap that would call for Wade to
retire in two years, if he wins the election.
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