Counting is underway in the contest expected to be won by incumbent President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

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The Mali Citizen Observation Pool puts the turnout in the run-off election at 22 percent.

Two polling stations were torched in the West African state plagued by Islamist violence.

Electoral officials were threatened and one of them in troubled northern Mali was killed.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who attracted  41% of the vote in the first round despite his inability to quell ethnic and militant violence, is expected to prevail

His main challenger Soumalia Cisse, failed to get the endorsement of candidates who fell out  in the first round where he managed 18% of the vote.

The post Most Malians stayed away from their violent run-off presidential election appeared first on Jean-Jacques Cornish.