President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali claimed an overwhelming victory on Thursday in a runoff vote after a controversial first round of voting last month that was marred by insecurity and allegations of electoral fraud. Mr. Keïta will serve a second term after being declared the winner of the second round, which was held this past weekend. He received 67 percent of the vote; his chief rival, Soumaïla Cissé, took 33 percent. Mali has struggled with security issues, and the violence carried out by Islamist extremists for years spilled over into polling places during the election. In Arkodia, a village in the northern region of Timbuktu, a local election official was shot to death by extremists during the voting, local officials said. In all, security concerns kept nearly 500 voting sites from opening, mostly in the north and center of the country where extremist groups operate, government officials said.
Security was a central issue in the election, with Mr. Keïta promising to rein in the extremists, and Mr. Cissé blaming the incumbent for failing to have already done so. Islamist extremist groups and other armed militias operate in Mali; it is the world’s most dangerous assignment for United Nations peacekeepers.
Mr. Cissé, a former finance minister, has vowed to fight the election results. Other parties filed court complaints of fraud. European election observers said they saw evidence of irregularities but not fraud.
In the first round, Mr. Keïta won 41.4 percent of the vote, while Mr. Cissé, won 17.8 percent, the Ministry of Territorial Administration said. A candidate needed 50 percent to win outright and avoid a runoff.
Full Article: President of Mali Gets 2nd Term With Victory in Runoff Vote – The New York Times.
