Voters in Senegal go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president in an unpredictable race. It follows three years of political crisis, including fierce protests over the outgoing president's attempt to push back the vote.

Some 7.3 million voters are registered in the West African country, which has often been hailed as a stable democracy in a region that experienced several coups in recent years.

The election is set to be the country's fourth democratic transfer of power since Senegal gained independence from France in 1960.

Voting will end at 6pm local time and provisional results could be known overnight. The first official results are expected during the coming week.

With 17 candidates in the running, a second round looks likely.

Two favourites have emerged: former prime minister Amadou Ba, the ruling party candidate, and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, representing a popular anti-establishment coalition.

Ba is the preferred successor of outgoing President Macky Sall, while Faye is running in place of opposition figurehead Ousmane Sonko, who was barred from running over legal charges that he disputes.

Schedule change

Hundreds of observers will be out representing civil society, the African Union, the Ecowas regional group and the European Union.

The election is being held weeks after Sall unsuccessfully tried to call it off until the end of the year.

After two consecutive terms in office, Senegal's constitution does not allow him to run a third time. His opponents saw his attempt to postpone the vote as a bid to stay in power.

After weeks of unrest that left four people dead, the country's top constitutional body stepped in and forced him to schedule the election on 24 March, almost exactly a month after it was originally due to take place.

The new date falls during Ramadan, the holy month when many Muslims fast from dawn until dusk.

Experts have warned of the potential for tensions to flare on Sunday and after - particularly if Ba wins in the first round, or Faye fails to reach the second.