Citizens of Mauritanian went to the polls Sunday for the second time this month - choosing between two men vying to lead this country into civilian rule. According to the AP, in the capital, there were not the long, serpentine lines of the first-round vote on March 11, but many people still turned out in the first hours of voting.
The leading candidate - Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, 69, was minister of finance in one previous administration and minister of fishing under 21-year ruler Maaoya Sid‘Ahmed Ould Taya. He fell out with Taya in 1987 and spent six months under house arrest.
The second candidate - Ahmed Ould Daddah, 65 - the brother of Mauritania‘s post-independence leader and first president - is a longtime opposition figure who ran twice against Taya in past ballots and spent four years under house arrest.
Runoff results are expected to start coming in late Sunday or early Monday, and a winner could be announced by Monday night.
"If I am beaten, I will congratulate Ahmed Ould Daddah and wish him good luck," Abdallahi said as he cast his ballot.
