DAKAR, Senegal, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Voter turnout in Senegal was reported high Sunday as citizens went to the polls to choose the West African nation's next president.
The Voice of America said while some voters were met with long lines, most successfully managed to vote for either incumbent Abdoulaye Wade or one of his 14 challengers.
Surrounded by his supporters, Wade said he was confident he would get the 50 percent of the vote needed to avoid a second round run-off in March.
"I am very optimistic," he said. "Before coming here, I called all my representatives of the party in each department of Senegal and they are very, very confident and there is very big mobilization for Wade."
For many Senegalese the electoral process was the most crucial factor.
"I think that it is very good today, because I see that all the population is here for doing (their) right, to choose the president," Mamadou Ndiaye told the Voice of America. "I think that today all the world will see that Senegal is a country of peace."
