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Polls are now closed after 10 hours of voting.
Vote counting has begun, and provisional results are expected by Tuesday, March 26. Voting bureaus will begin posting their tallies from Sunday night onward.
If no candidate wins more than 50 percent, a run-off election will take place between leading candidates.
Thank you for joining us. You can read more about the election here, and find more news from Senegal here.
Here’s what happened today
Polls will close at 18:00 GMT. Here’s a recap of the day:
- Millions of voters in Senegal gathered from 8am onward to cast ballots to elect their next president among a crowded field of candidates.
- There were long queues at polling stations and election observers said the voting process was largely “calm”.
- The delayed polls took place following a period of uncertainty after President Macky Sall’s unsuccessful effort to delay the election.
- There were no clear frontrunners, but former Prime Minister Amadou Ba from the ruling Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition and Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who ran in place of disqualified opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, are considered the most popular choices to replace Sall.
- A candidate has to secure more than 50 percent of the vote to win in the first round. If not, a run-off election will take place. Both Ba and Faye said they were confident about a first-round result.
Women voters a key demographic
Anta Babacar Ngom, 40, is the sole woman competing in the presidential race and would be the first woman to serve as Senegal’s president if elected.
As voters, women are a key demographic in the elections, and their vote could tip the outcome.
Hundreds of thousands came out to cast their ballots on Sunday.
Third place key
El Hadji Mamadou Mbaye, a political science lecturer and researcher at the University of Saint-Louis, says he expects Ba and Faye to lead the race.
“We know that these are the two who will emerge if there is no tsunami,” he told the French news agency AFP.
“The whole issue will come down to the third [place candidate] who will be the referee,” he added.
Mbaye noted that Faye is a contender “who does not come from the system” so his win would be a political “earthquake”.
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Senegal election results: Opposition’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye leads race for presidency – reports
Who is likely to win today’s election?
While there are no public election polls in Senegal, Faye is seen as a strong contender to replace Sall.
Most of Sonko’s supporters are expected to vote for Faye, making the latter a serious threat to the other 16 presidential hopefuls. Sonko is popular among urban youth frustrated with a lack of jobs and economic hardship in a country where 60 percent of the population is younger than 25.
According to internal government polling, only 60 percent of those who voted for Sall in the last election are believed to be planning to vote for BBY’s candidate this time.
High-profile politicians, including former Prime Minister Aminata Toure, who had a public falling-out with Sall and left the ruling coalition last year, have also backed Faye.
Voter turnout critical
Election observers said voter turnout among the more than seven million registered voters appeared to be high on Sunday, though more precise figures were not yet available.
Babacar Gueye, who heads Senegal’s COSCE civil society network of observers, said participation was important to give the election legitimacy.
“At the opening of polling stations today, I have never in the past 15 years seen so many people going to vote,” he told The Associated Press.
Mamadou Bodian, a researcher at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, told Al Jazeera there was a “huge influx of voters” even before the polls opened in Ziguinchor, southern Senegal, where he is based.
“Voter turnout is a critical factor, especially following a 66 percent national turnout in 2019, and today there is speculation that the participation may increase despite a compressed campaign period,” he said. “I think that’s the importance of this election, which people call a historical moment”
The tax inspectors competing to be Senegal’s new president
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal
What do three leading election candidates and one former favourite for the office of president have in common? They are all current or former tax inspectors.
For many, this is a simple coincidence, their earlier professions having no bearing on their selection for candidacy. But for others, their perceived wealth and financial savvy make a difference.
“Financial power looks for political power,” says Alioune Tine, a prominent Senegalese political analyst.
Guillaume Soto-Mayor, a nonresident scholar at the Middle East Institute, says the reputation of tax inspectors can be beneficial – but also harmful.
Read our story here.
Investors in ‘wait and see’ mode
Foreign investors and international partners are keeping a close eye on the election in Senegal, a country traditionally seen as a safe investment destination.
“In the medium to long term, there is a real concern among investors about what this election saga means for democracy and, therefore, stability,” Tiffany Wognaih, senior associate with Africa Matters Limited, a risk analysis consulting firm, told Al Jazeera.
Wognaih said that due to uncertainty surrounding the election, investors face higher operational and security risks. And while most have not shut down their operations, they remain in a “wait and see” mode over regulatory and legislative changes that could happen with a new government.
Read our story here.
What is Sall’s legacy after 12 years in power?
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal
Questions are being asked about the strength and resilience of Senegal’s democracy as President Macky Sall’s 12-year-long tenure draws to a close.
Sall promised a new era of good governance in Senegal with his 2012 presidential victory. He said he would address the consolidation of power in the presidency by fostering a more democratic system while also tackling issues of social justice and equity.
Central to his campaign was a commitment to reduce presidential terms from seven to five years, reversing an increase that former President Abdoulaye Wade had implemented. Wade had also threatened to run for a third – and unconstitutional – term in office.
So history seemed to be repeating itself when Sall appeared to be considering a bid for a third term after postponing the presidential election that was due to be held last month, sparking protests throughout the country.
Read our story here.
‘Strong institutions’ for a strong democracy
When President Macky Sall announced the cancellation of the election in February, there was an uproar from civil society in Senegal, specifically the Aar Sunu Election (Protect Our Election) group, led by Dr Abdoulaye Bousso.
“I think today is a very great day for us,” Bousso told Al Jazeera in Dakar. “We fought to have this election day happen and we are very proud to see the big mobilisation of the Senegalese people.
“For us, it’s the victory of the Senegalese democracy.”
Comparing Senegal to other regional countries that have seen coups in recent years – Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso – Bousso said, “We are very proud in Senegal to be able to face all our opposition, our difficulties, our misunderstandings, in a democratic way. We have very strong institutions.
“I think strong institutions are very important on our continent. And I’m sure most African countries will learn from what happened in this country, to show that it’s not about the power of one person to decide, but it’s the power of the people.”
Faye and Sonko: The ‘anti-establishment camp’
In these elections, “the two political camps stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum”, says Mucahid Durmaz, a senior political risk analyst for West Africa at Verisk Maplecroft.
While outgoing President Macky Sall and his ruling coalition candidate Ba favour liberalisation policies, opposition figure Sonko and his chosen candidate Faye plan to introduce a new currency and renegotiate contracts with oil and gas operators in the country.
“The issue here is that despite the economic boom that the country has witnessed over the years under President Sall, it has not really facilitated a wider socioeconomic development for the country’s youthful population,” Durmaz told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, Faye and Sonko represent “an anti-establishment camp”, the analyst said.
“[They] gained support because their stand has resonated with so many voters in the country, specifically when it comes to socioeconomic grievances – because they directly targeted the political elite in the country, they are constantly talking about corruption and, importantly, they also question the French influence in the country.”
Who is Ousmane Sonko?
Ousmane Sonko 49, was the undisputed candidate of the PASTEF party, which he helped found in 2014. He was disqualified from the ballot because he faces a six-month suspended sentence following his conviction for defamation.
Sonko rose to fame in 2016 after being removed from his post as a tax inspector for denouncing the opacity of certain public contracts and the privileges of the political class.
He ran in the 2019 presidential election and came third due to his defence of traditional and religious values.
After a prolonged legal battle started when he was accused of rape in 2021, he was acquitted but was convicted of corrupting the youth and sentenced to two years in prison last summer, igniting deadly protests across Senegal.
In January, he was disqualified from the ballot following his conviction, but his supporters maintain his legal troubles are part of a government effort to derail his candidacy.
In photos: Senegalese line up to cast their votes
‘We finally got there’
In Dakar, voter Mita Diop emerged from a polling station with her finger stained with red ink to show she had cast her ballot.
“We finally got there. May God be praised,” the 51-year-old trader told the AFP.
“Recent times haven’t been easy for Senegal, which has experienced several upheavals.
“But all that is behind us now.”
Another voter, Mohamed Bop, 42, told AFP: “It’s a symbolic and historic day for me because it wasn’t easy to hold these elections; it was gained through a great fight.
“So, I’m very relieved and proud.”
‘Calm, serene’ voting process: EU observer
Hundreds of election observers from civil society, the African Union, the regional group the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union are on the ground monitoring the fairness of the vote.
Malin Bjork, from the EU election observer mission to Senegal, spoke to Al Jazeera in Dakar:
“The European Union has an observation mission,” she said. “It’s about 100 observers but also a team of analysts, of experts, who are here since the 13th of January, so we are following the process throughout – the preparations, the day itself, and then the counting and compilation of votes.
“From the opening this morning, our observers – and it’s a partial piece of the picture – we have seen that there are quite some queues in front of the offices, which shows that people are mobilised to go and use their right to vote and express their views for the future of Senegal.
“Election offices are functioning well. It’s calm; there is serenity in the process, according to our observations.”
Faye ‘convinced’ election will be called in first round
Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Senegal’s anti-establishment presidential candidate, said he was “convinced” of victory in the first round, after voting in his western village of Ndiaganiao.
“I remain confident about the choice for the change that I am able to embody better than any other candidate,” he said alongside his two wives, adding that he was “convinced that this election will be decided in the first round”, AFP reported.
Analysts say no candidate is expected to win more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round, which means a run-off between leading candidates is expected.
Amadou Ba ‘very confident’ about election chances
Amadou Ba, the presidential candidate for Senegal’s governing Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition, said he was “very confident” of a first-round election win after he voted in Dakar.
“There is no doubt that at the end of today, we should know the next president of the republic,” he said, adding he was “very, very, very confident” of his chances, AFP reported.
The young generation vs the old
Reporting from Ecole Alassane Ndiaye Allou, Dakar
It’s been more than four hours since voting for the fifth president of Senegal commenced.
In the long queues are many women – faces not seen on the streets during the months of demonstrations that this nation experienced.
Heavily contested by 17 candidates, the election pits the young generation against the older generation.
Desperate and unemployed, many young voters advocate for a change of leadership.
Six-year-old Abdoulaye Sall hopes to become president
Even though he has more than a decade to go before he can vote in any election, six-year-old Abdoulaye Sall from Dakar tells our correspondent Nicolas Haque that he wants to be Senegal’s president one day.
He says he plans to bring jobs.
Unemployment is a key issue in this year’s election.
Senegal won back its election, but who will win the vote?
“It is quite an unusual election,” says Al Jazeera correspondent Nicolas Haque.
“There is both anticipation like you would have in any election; there is an element of fear and unknown because this is the first election in the last 12 years where President Macky Sall is not in the running … and there is an element of excitement, especially among those young, first-time voters.
“This is an election like no other and it’s very important, especially for young people.”
Listen to this episode of our podcast, The Take, where we discuss what the election means for Senegal’s democracy and its future:
https://omny.fm/shows/the-take/senegal-won-back-its-election-but-who-will-win-the/embed?style=Cover
Voting for change
In Dakar, voters were lined up hours before polls opened on time at 08:00 GMT, and they have continued to gather throughout the day.
“I came early because I want change,” Sidy Lamine Badji, a 36-year-old driver who was first to vote at his polling station in the ocean-facing neighbourhood of Ngor, told the Reuters news agency.
“Life is difficult. We have not been making any progress since 2012.”
Fisherman Alioune Samba, 66, told Reuters he was voting for the change everyone wants.
“Food, water, school; everything is expensive with the low income we have in Senegal,” said the father of three.
Long queues at polling stations
As voting continues, queues at polling stations are long and the atmosphere is festive.
Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque captures the mood on election day.
Opposition candidate Faye casts his vote
Leading opposition presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who is backed by the firebrand leader Sonko, has voted at a polling station at Ndiaganiao in the city of Mbour.
Earlier, in the capital Dakar, the presidential candidate for Senegal’s ruling BBY coalition, Amadou Ba, also cast his vote, the Reuters news agency reported.
he halfway mark
We are halfway through election day in Senegal.
Polls are expected to close in 5 hours from now at 18:00 GMT.
‘A lot’ of people are voting in the election
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal
I’ve been to this polling station in previous elections, and I can tell you there are a lot more people coming out to vote.
It’s interesting who those people are: a lot of young men but also women, key in this election because women make up a substantial part of the electorate in Senegal.
There’s large support for opposition figure Ousmane Sonko, and we’ve seen many young people attending rallies where his deputy Faye is running during this campaign.
The biggest challenge for Faye supporters is to make sure these young people actually come out and vote today, but it seems that at this polling station in Medina, they are indeed coming out to vote.
Last-minute endorsement for Faye
Last week, former President Abdoulaye Wade and his Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) endorsed Faye’s candidacy, raising his chances of winning the election.
The move came after Wade’s son, Karim Wade, was disqualified from contesting the PDS race because he was a dual citizen at the time he submitted his candidacy. He had been in the process of renouncing his French citizenship.
“Given the current situation, the PDS has an imperative duty to take a stand,” the party said in a statement on Friday. “In this spirit of responsibility towards our homeland … our political group has chosen to give its full support to the Diomaye Faye Coalition.”
Ba responded to the endorsement by saying he would continue to reach out to PDS supporters.
Who is Bassirou Diomaye Faye?
Commonly known as “Diomaye”, Faye was endorsed by the more popular Ousmane Sonko to replace him on the ballot. He is running under the slogan “Ousmane mooy Diomaye”, meaning “Ousmane is Diomaye” in Wolof.
Both studied law and worked as tax inspectors, where they met and spoke out against corruption, and later co-founded the now dissolved PASTEF party in 2014. They have branded themselves as incorruptible tax inspectors who did not fill their pockets while others did.
Faye, 43, was imprisoned in April and charged with contempt of court, defamation and acts likely to compromise public peace after posting a message critical of the justice system. Unlike Sonko, he has not been convicted of any crime that would disqualify him from standing for election.
‘Proud’ to have voted
Early on election morning in the capital, Dakar, the roads were largely deserted and the nation’s elite police force were stationed all over the city in armoured vehicles, the Associated Press news agency reported.
Outside polling centres, police checked voters’ cards as men and women in formal dress lined up.
Khodia Ndiayes, a 52-year-old cook, told AP she picked Faye on the ballot because she wanted Sonko to win.
“I’m proud to have voted,” she said. “We need a new president because life is expensive, the economy is bad and we need better schools.”
In Fatick, a town about 167km (104 miles) from the capital, lines of mostly women and elderly people formed on the sandy ground outside polling stations. The army was charged with securing the election outside the capital, and voters had their fingers stained with red ink to ensure no one votes more than once.
“I have done my duty and voted. I am proud to have voted,” said Fode Ndour, 70, who walked with a cane.
Main issues in the election
Unemployment: Frustration at the lack of job opportunities has spurred support for Sonko and his backed candidate Faye, particularly among the youth.
The share of young Senegalese not in employment, education or training stood at 35 percent in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic further squeezed the job market.
Inflation: In a country where around a third of the population of 17 million live in poverty, the rising cost of living is a major concern.
Russia’s war on Ukraine and the appreciation of the United States dollar have fuelled additional inflation and undermined support for the current authorities despite subsidies for poor families. Nearly three-quarters of Senegalese judged the government to be mishandling the economy, according to a 2023 poll by Afrobarometer.
Oil and gas: The launch of oil and gas production later in 2024 has raised questions about whether the natural resource wealth will benefit the wider population and create jobs.
The Sonko-backed opposition coalition has promised to renegotiate energy contracts to maximise revenues, while Amadou Ba is running on the slogan “Prosperity Shared”.
Outgoing President Sall warns candidates against claiming early victory
“It is neither up to a candidate, nor to a [political] camp to proclaim victory or results,” President Macky Sall said after voting with his wife in the central western town of Fatick, the French news agency AFP reported.
“It is the polling stations that will speak,” added Sall, who is not standing for re-election.
n photos: Voters take to the polls after months of political chaos
‘This is something we have won’
“I am so happy to be able to exercise my right to vote as a Senegalese citizen,” voter Thiaba Camara Sy, from the organisation Demain Senegal (Tomorrow Senegal), told Al Jazeera at a polling station in Dakar.
“This is something that we have won because the risk was high of the election being delayed until who knows when, so I’ve been queuing for two hours but I’m happy.”
Sy said there is a high level of enthusiasm in this election “because people have been so afraid of not being able to vote. They realise that democracy is a principle, a value, that is very important to them. So I think that’s why you see so many people in the polling stations. People are really happy”.
This election matters because “there may be a huge change, not just in terms of the person who will be president, but also maybe the whole system. We hope that the constitution will be reformed so that never again what happened [with the election delay] will be able to happen again,” she said.
Vote held after ‘very tense period’
Senegal has faced bouts of deadly unrest since 2021, fuelled by anger over the legal cases brought against Sonko and concerns that Sall would run for a third term.
According to Human Rights Watch, nearly 1,000 opposition members and activists have been arrested across the country in the last three years.
But Sall’s surprise move to release Sonko and Faye has helped to defuse tensions that had surged in recent months.
“Loosening the knot has tempered things a little, and has brought a bit of calm to the public arena,” Rokhiatou Gassama, a civil society election observer, told the Reuters news agency, saying that he expected “a peaceful election”.
Sidy Diop, deputy editor of Le Soleil daily, said the desire for calm “is going to play a big part [in the election]”.
“We are coming out of a very tense period. All the candidates are presenting themselves as the ones who will reconcile the Senegalese people,” he told AFP.
https://aje.io/aboxm4?update=2794097
‘Sonko is Diomaye and Diomaye is Sonko’
Reporting from Dakar, Senegal
We have 17 candidates in these elections. There are two standout candidates, though, and they have much in common – both are former tax inspectors.
There is the ruling party candidate, Amadou Ba, and his former employee, Bassirou Diomaye Faye. He is the anti-establishment candidate. He was in jail just a week ago. He had a short campaign where a lot of people didn’t know who he actually was.
During the campaign, we saw him really rise to stardom. Their motto – the banned political party PASTEF – is “Sonko is Diomaye and Diomaye is Sonko”, just to give a sense and reassure the population that behind this candidate, who isn’t really well known, there is the firebrand popular opposition figure Ousmane Sonko.
This is a high-stakes election because this year, Senegal will start extracting liquefied natural gas (LNG). Most of it will go to Europe – Europe is trying to move away from Russian gas – and this country will receive unprecedented wealth.
So it’s quite interesting that we have two former tax inspectors who are really leading the race and who will have to decide on how that revenue is going to be spent.
In photos: Voters head to the polls
You sense the seriousness of this event’
Reporting from a polling station in Senegal’s capital Dakar
Polling stations have been opened, and we are seeing growing numbers of people who have come out to vote.
A lot of people have woken up early this morning; this is the Catholic holy month of Lent and the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and they have been fasting.
Quite a solemn atmosphere, not a lot of people talking to each other, you sense the seriousness of this event because of this delayed election.
We spoke to a first-time voter earlier on who felt like their vote had been robbed when the decision came out to cancel these elections.
You can certainly anticipate that there is going to be quite a high turnout in this election. So much is at stake for so many Senegalese.
This is the end of 12 years of President Macky Sall’s mandate, so there is a lot of hope that this vote will bring change. Really a solemn moment for the Senegalese people to finally have a say in how this country is run.
Why this vote matters
The lead-up to today’s vote saw its fair share of political drama.
Originally scheduled to take place on February 25, Sall plunged the country into chaos last month when he announced he was delaying the vote to December.
The move sparked deadly protests, as well as pushback from the opposition and Sall’s critics, who saw the delay as an attempt to breach the country’s constitution and bypass the president’s two-term limit.
Eventually, a decision by the Constitutional Council to overrule the postponement led to Sall setting March 24 as election day. But the debacle has shaken Senegal’s reputation as a stable democracy in an often politically volatile region.
Go here to find out more about why this election matters.
Who’s not running?
Macky Sall: Due to constitutional term limits, Sall will step down and for the first time in Senegal’s history the incumbent will not be on the ballot.
Sall ruled out running for a third term in July after violent unrest in the West African country, throwing wide open the race to succeed him. Momentum has gathered pace for the opposition as support for Sall dropped during his second and final term in office.
Ousmane Sonko: Sall’s main opponent cannot take part because he was convicted of defamation. The popular but divisive politician, now backing Faye, rose to prominence by criticising elites and promising to help Senegal’s jobless youth. He has many critics but many say he speaks truth to power.
Is any woman running for president?
Entrepreneur and political newcomer Anta Babacar Ngom, 40, is the sole woman competing in the presidential race and would be the first women to serve as Senegal’s president if elected.
The daughter of the founding president of Sedima, a leading poultry production group in the West and Central Africa region, she was until recently executive director of the company, which also operates Senegal’s Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises.
She launched the Alternative for the Next Generation of Citizens (ARC) political movement in August 2023.
More candidates running for president
Idrissa Seck: The veteran politician came second in the 2019 presidential race with 21 percent of the vote, after which his Rewmi party joined the ruling BBY coalition. The 64-year-old served as head of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council from November 2020 until April 2023.
Reports suggested Seck and Sall fell out after the former declared his opposition to anybody seeking a third term, alluding to the latter’s suspected ambitions. Seck also argued that Sonko should have been allowed to run in the 2024 election.
Mahammed Boun Abdallah Dionne: The 64-year-old was President Sall’s third prime minister, from 2014 to 2019. He announced his candidacy in September 2023 and launched his own coalition days after Sall selected Amadou Ba as the candidate for the ruling coalition.
Dionne, a former head of the Central Bank of West African States and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, has pledged to be a “president of reconciliation” if elected and has pushed for “economic sovereignty” for Senegal.
Aly Ngouille Ndiaye: The 59-year-old is a former close ally of President Sall. He left the BBY coalition and resigned as minister to launch his own bid weeks after Ba was selected as the BBY candidate.
A civil engineer and former bank executive, Ndiaye served as energy and interior minister before taking over the agriculture portfolio.
Who are the main candidates?
Amadou Ba: The candidate of the ruling BBY coalition is running on the slogan “Prosperity Shared”.
Ba, 62, a former economy minister who had also held the position of foreign minister, is a taxation specialist who was appointed prime minister in September. Sall presented Ba as a unifying figure within his party and the coalition and said he would ensure continuity of economic, social and environmental policies.
His victory would likely reassure foreign investors at a time when Senegal needs the support of the International Monetary Fund, which approved a $1.9bn loan in June.
Because of his involvement in Sall’s government, he faces public dissatisfaction over what critics say was the rollback of civil liberties after dozens of people were killed and more than 1,000 jailed in the political turmoil of the past three years.
Bassirou Diomaye Faye: While there are no public election polls, Faye is seen as a strong contender to replace Sall. Sonko threw his support behind him after being disqualified over a defamation conviction.
The 44-year-old tax inspector was a key member and secretary general of the party PASTEF, which he helped found together with Sall in 2014. The party was dissolved by the government in July over allegations that its members had called for an insurrection.
Khalifa Sall: The 68-year-old, who is unrelated to the outgoing president, served as mayor of Dakar from 2009 to 2018. One of President Sall’s chief political rivals, he was arrested in March 2017 on suspicion of embezzling about $3m in public funds. In 2018, he was sentenced to five years in jail, preventing him from contesting the February 2019 presidential election. The former lawmaker and widely popular politician was freed following a presidential pardon later that year.
Sustainable development has been central to Khalifa Sall’s electoral campaign. He has said he wants to focus on responsible water management and equitable land distribution. More than 70 percent of Senegal’s population lives off agriculture and the livestock sector.
When will the results be released?
Immediately after voting ends, ballots are counted in the polling stations and displayed at each location.
Copies are given to representatives of candidates and the national election commission. Vote tallies are transmitted to the Constitutional Council. The national election commission proclaims the provisional results.
Provisional results could be known as soon as a few hours after polls close but final results should emerge days after the election, with many expecting a run-off. In previous elections, the second round of voting took place about a month after the first round.
Sall is expected to leave office by April 2, and in the event of a run-off the head of the national assembly, Amadou Mame Diop, would take over in the interim.
Voting begins
Polls have now officially opened across Senegal.
They are expected to close in 10 hours from now.
How does Senegal elect its president?
More than seven million of Senegal’s over 17 million people are eligible to vote in the election, which will see about 16,440 polling stations open across the country and in the diaspora.
To avoid a run-off, one candidate must secure more than 50 percent of the vote.
If no candidate obtains an absolute majority of the vote in the first round, the two top candidates would go head-to-head.
According to the constitution, the run-off should be held on the third Sunday after the proclamation of the results of the first round by the Constitutional Council.
30 minutes until polls open
Voting stations are due to open in half an hour at 08:00 GMT.
They are scheduled to remain open until 18:00 GMT.
Why did Sall attempt to postpone the vote?
On February 3, the president announced in a televised speech that elections slated for February 25 would be postponed.
Sall said the postponement was necessary because of a dispute over the list of approved candidates for the election.
The announcement was followed by speculation that he had delayed the vote because he lacked confidence about the popularity of Amadou Ba, the candidate for his Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition.
Some believed Sall was trying to hold onto power for longer, despite stating that he would not run for a third term after 12 years in power.
What’s at stake in this election?
For the first time in Senegalese history the incumbent is not in the running. Senegal’s President Macky Sall is due to step down after his last-minute postponement of the vote last month created one of the worst crises in decades.
After the last-minute withdrawal of two contenders, there are 17 approved candidates in what is expected to be the most tightly contested race since the country gained independence more than six decades ago.
Sall tried to postpone the vote that had been due to take place on February 25 by 10 months, leading to warnings of democratic backsliding in one of West Africa’s most stable democracies.
The Constitutional Council stepped in, forcing Sall to set the election for March 24.
Meanwhile, popular opposition leader Ousmane Sonko and his coalition’s presidential candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye were released from jail on March 14 and celebrated by thousands of supporters in the streets of the capital, Dakar.
First published by: ALJazeera
