Mali: Polls Close Amid Reports of Intimidation, Claims of Vote Buying

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, president of Mali.
20 April 2020

Cape Town — Acts of intimidation and allegations of vote buying marred the final round of legislative elections in Mali on Sunday, AFP reports.

In central Mali, the president of a voting station was forcibly removed and electoral commission representatives were "chased away by armed men", one of the representatives told AFP. Military sources confirmed the incident.

Voting elsewhere was cancelled after jihadists threatened to attack voters, witnesses said.

The first provisional results are to be announced at the start of the week, AFP says.

The vote is for 147 seats in the National Assembly.

Al Jazeera reports that the long-delayed first round of voting on March 29 was disrupted by attacks and intimidation, including the kidnapping of opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.

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