Provisional partial results of the Mauritanian presidential election announced on Sunday showed incumbent President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani is leading his rivals with about 56% of the votes, after counting about 82% of the 5,403 polling stations across the country.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission and provisional data on its website, Ghazouani received 447,392 votes after completing the counting of voting results for 3,676 polling stations.
Opposition rights activist and member of parliament Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid came second with 181,246 votes, or 22.50%, and Islamist Tawasul Party candidate Hamadi Ould Sid El Mokhtar came third with 12.97%.
Nationwide turnout was close to 55%, according to IEC figures.
The IEC said it did not note any irregularities and that the voting process took place in satisfactory conditions; while opposition candidates reported irregularities and violations, including repeated voting, voting without identification nor voting by proxy.
Since the start of the campaign, the outgoing president has pledged a “landslide victory in the first round.”
Pictures of Ghazouani with the slogan “The Safe Choice” were everywhere in the capital and regions. In the center of Nouakchott, tents were set up where his supporters gathered, danced, sang and debated.
