Polls close and counting begins in presidential vote in Senegal | New

Dakar, Senegal – Polling stations are closed in Senegal and ballots are counted after millions of people took part in the presidential election of the West African country.

Long queues were formed early Sunday morning in front of the polling stations of the capital, Dakar, where more than 1.6 million registered voters live on 6.6 million.

Voting centers opened at 08:00 GMT and closed at 18:00 GMT, with preliminary results released Tuesday and the official count on Friday.

A candidate must obtain more than 50% of the votes to be declared winner.

If no candidate wins the majority, a second round will take place on March 24th.

President Macky Sall, who came to power in 2012, is expected to win the election.

Sall, seeking a second and final term, became the favorite after two of Senegal's best-known opposition leaders were barred from running for office.

The former mayor of the capital, Khalifa Sall, who is not related to the president, is serving a five-year prison sentence for corruption. Karim Wade, son of the country's former leader, Abdoulaye Wade, has been exiled to Qatar after serving half of a six-year prison sentence for corruption.

Both deny the accusations, which they say have a political motivation.

"Duty of citizenship"

Sall, the first president of Senegal to be born after the independence of the country of France in 1960, promised his supporters a "first round victory".

"This voting day is a very important moment for the democratic cycle.It is an illustration of popular sovereignty.I ask you to fulfill your duty of citizens in peace and quietness in order to decide what that we will do over the next five years, "said Sall after voicing his vote in a polling station in his home town of Fatick.

Sall faces competition from four other candidates.

The candidate Madicke Niang told his supporters, after voting in the city of Touba, that he was badured of victory.

"I have just fulfilled my duty as a citizen and as a citizen, to vote, long live the Republic, long live Senegal, we will meet tonight to win."

At the same time, the European Union, which had observers throughout Senegal, said that there had been no major incident in polling stations observed.

"Almost all the polling stations observed were positively evaluated by EU observers, who indicated that voters were familiar with the voting procedures and that the performance of the polling station staff was satisfactory." said Elena Valenciano, head of the EU's observation mission to Senegal, a statement.

"Voter turnout in the polling stations observed was considered good, especially in urban areas," added Valenciano.

Senegal is one of the most stable democracies in Africa and has experienced three peaceful power transfers since independence.