Some seven million Malians are expected to vote on Sunday, as polls open for the country?s first presidential elections since last year's March coup sparked a takeover of large parts of the north of the country by Tuareg separatists and Islamic extremists.
While some have praised the country?s efforts in organising an election so soon after the conflict, others have questioned Mali?s readiness amid reports of thousands of citizens still without voter ID cards and thus unable to take part in the election. There are also concerns over security after Islamic militants threatened to attack polling stations.
17.00 - So far things seem to be running relatively smoothly in Mali as the country?s citizens continue to vote, with signs of a decent turnout in key cities such as Gao and Bamako and no reports of violence or security problems.
However, RFI reports that a number of voters in Bamako and the northern town of Timbuktu have been unable to find the polling stations ? similar to the problems reported by FRANCE 24?s correspondent Donaig Le Du in the separatist stronghold of Kidal earlier in the day.
Meanwhile, polls across Mali are due to close at 18.00 this evening, after which counting will begin. If none of the candidates wins a majority, a second round run-off between the two leading candidates will be held on August 11.
14.00 - Mali?s interim President Dioncounda Traor? has cast his vote in the capital Bamako, reports Melissa Bell.
Speaking to FRANCE 24 as he left the polling station, Traor? struck an upbeat note, saying he believes so far things are going ?extremely smoothly? and that today?s election has been one of the most successful Mali has ever held.
Participation is likely to be key to judging the success of the election as well as the legitimacy of the eventual winner and, in Bamako at least, turnout seems to be high, with queues forming outside polling stations.
?Historically the turnout in Malian elections has not been extraordinarily high, but authorities here are very keen it should reach at least close to the 35 percent that was recorded at the time of the last presidential election,? Bell says.
But whatever the outcome, the results are likely to be scrutinised and possibly challenged by some of the losing candidates, she explains. ?You can almost bet your money there will be some kind of contesting of the results at some point by someone, this election having been from the outset described as one that is far less than perfect.?
12.00 - One of the concerns leading up to these elections was that thousands of Malian expatriates around the world would be unable to take part because of delays in sending them their voter ID cards.
One of Mali?s largest expat communities is in the Paris suburb of Montreuil, home to an estimated 7,000 Malians. Reporting from the suburb, FRANCE 24?s Rosalie e?Silva says that so far few people have turned out to cast their vote.
?Voting has been open officially for four hours now and I?ve yet to see one vote cast,? she said.
One polling station in the suburb refused to open because it said too few people had received their ID cards. At another voting centre, people were being turned away because the officials set to oversee the voting procedure had yet to arrive.
?There?s an overwhelming sense of frustration and anger that people are there to vote but are being turned away,? e?Silva added.
11.00 - The election?s organisational difficulties seem to be causing some problems in the northern town of Kidal, where voters are struggling to find the right polling stations, reports FRANCE 24?s Donaig Le Du.
One of the reasons for this, she says, is that many of the lists of registered voters, which had been posted on the walls of public buildings, were blown away by high winds last night, Le Du explained.
Many in the town, however, simply do not want to take part in the vote ?because they are opposed to being part of Mali?, she says.
Kidal is a Tuareg separatist stronghold where an uneasy truce has been in place since a peace agreement was signed last month. Just last week, a group of election workers were kidnapped while on their way to distribute voter ID cards in the town.
Altogether, turnout in the town has been fairly low so far, says Le Du.
10.00 - In Gao, Eve Irvine reports that people have been queuing since 6 a.m. outside polling stations to cast their votes.
The city in central Mali was among those captured by Tuareg separatists in March 2012 before falling into the hands of Islamist militants and eventually being recaptured by the French military in January.
The atmosphere in the city as polling stations opened this morning was ?joyous?, Irvine reported.
?People were saying they were really very proud and
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very happy to cast their votes today. Since we arrived in Gao they?ve told us that electing the next president for them is the final sign that they are fully free from the months of occupation,? she said.
However, with Gao the site of multiple suicide bombings in recent months and with Islamists threatening to target the city on election day, security levels are high, with local army and police backed up by UN and French forces.
09.00 - Reporting from the capital Bamako, FRANCE 24?s Melissa Bell says that there are two big questions as the vote gets underway: ?Will it happen without incident and will the participation level be sufficiently strong that Malians will not question the results??
After the polls, the 28 candidates will be holed up in their campaign headquarters awaiting the results, she says. Some of the leading candidates, among them four former prime ministers, will have a good sense of the results by this evening.
?The big difficulty then for the authorities will be to get the official results out before the candidates can begin claiming success,? says Bell.
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