Скачать или смотреть Polling stations close, vote counting begins in presidential election

(21 Feb 2021) Polling stations closed and the vote counting of the presidential election began in Niger on Sunday night.
Nigeriens took to the polls earlier in the day in the second round of voting to decide who will succeed President Mahamadou Issoufou who is stepping down after serving two terms, in accordance with Niger’s constitution.
Former foreign affairs minister Mohamed Bazoum, who received about 39% of the vote in the first round in December, is running against former president Mahamane Ousmane, who won nearly 17% of that vote, according to the official results.
The day was marred by a deadly attack in which seven members of the National Electoral Commission were killed when their car hit an explosive device, the Niger government said.
Three others were severely injured in the explosion which occurred in Gotheye village in the Tillaberi region in the country's west, Addine Agalass, an advisor to Tillaberi's governor told The Associated Press by phone.  
It was unclear if the attack was intended to target the electoral commission officials or if it was related to the election, said Agalass.
The West African nation's been battling rising attacks by Islamic extremists for years and Niger experts had warned that Sunday's elections could see violence.
In January at least 100 people were killed when extremists attacked two villages near the border with Mali.
Thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced despite the presence of thousands of regional and international troops.
Of Niger's 23 million people, some 7.4 million are registered to vote.
In the parliamentary and presidential elections which took place on December 27 turnout was approximately 67%.
Issoufou's decision to respect the constitution has been widely hailed and paves the way for Niger's first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since its independence from France in 1960.
The West African nation has seen four coups.

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