KIDAL, Mali — Malian voters went to the polls on Sunday in the first presidential election since last year’s coup. The vote was meant to be a new beginning for a country that was once an example of democracy in West Africa, but officials fear that the legitimacy of the election will be undermined by low voter turnout and technical lapses.
Some fear the voting lapses could lead to a new rebellion.
The United Nations peacekeepers in Kidal tried to cover with paint independence slogans emblazoned on the concrete wall near the main polling station in the city, the epicenter of last year’s rebellion against Malian rule. The paint used was not thick enough, and the slogans were still visible to voters lined up outside.
Only a few residents in Kidal, a city at the edge of the Sahara, voted on Sunday. Results are not expected for days.