Comoros awaits election results as vote counting begins

Counting of ballots is underway in Comoros after the first round of presidential elections ended Sunday evening.

The vote count began in most polling stations except for a few areas that encountered delays with the arrival of voting materials.

According to election observers, the polls were peaceful and no major incidences were reported.

159,000 voters on the Grande Comore island were eligible to vote in the first round of the election.

Electoral rules stipulate that the president is chosen on a rotating basis from one of the archipelago’s three main islands.

The system was established in 2001 in a bid to usher in stability after more than 20 coups or attempted coups in the years following independence from France in 1975.

The three top candidates will go into a nationwide run-off on April 10 that will decide the successor to President Ikililou Dhoinine.

25 candidates are contesting to get the country’s top job including a former coup leader and the vice president.

Moinaecha Youssouf Djalali is the only female candidate.

In a bid to avoid electoral fraud, 20 candidates agreed to a request to ban proxy voting “to preserve the peace”.