Macky Sall wins with 65.8%

Incumbent Abdoulaye Wade won 34.20 percent of the second-round vote.

The results read out by Appeals Court President Demba Kandji on Tuesday confirmed Sall’s victory over Wade, who had conceded defeat within hours of polls closing on Sunday.

They showed that Sall, who has the backing of other opposition parties, was able to more than double his 26.6 percent score obtained in the first round, while Wade stayed near his 34.8 percent first-round score.

Kandji said voter turnout was at about 55 percent of over 5 million registered voters.

Senegal’s top legal body, the Constitutional Council, is expected to confirm the results by Friday and Sall is expected to be sworn in by next Tuesday so that he can preside over the national day celebration on April 4.

Thijs Berman, head of the European Union’s observer mission, which had over 90 observers in Senegal, said the campaign and election was trouble-free, except for some minor incidents of vote buying and use of state resources by both sides.

“It was a credible vote and the result was accepted by all,” Berman told a news conference in Dakar, adding that he hoped Senegal’s example would spur soldiers who staged a military takeover in Mali last week to go back to barracks.

“This is a must because Africa is no longer in the era of coups,” Berman added.