Many expect Former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, who won 40% of the vote in the first round, to defeat ex-Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse. The election follows more than a year of turmoil which included a coup and a French-led military intervention to oust Islamist rebels from the north. The victor will oversee more than $4bn (£2.6bn) in foreign aid promised to rebuild the West African state. A 12,600-strong United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Mali (Minusma) is currently deploying, as France begins to withdraw its 3,000 troops. The UN has stressed the importance of the election to the restoration of constitutional order and the start of national dialogue and reconciliation. A record 49% of the 6.8 million registered voters cast a ballot in first round on 28 July. Mr Cisse, who was second among the 27 candidates with 19.7% of the vote, complained that there was widespread fraud, with more than 400,000 ballots declared spoiled. However, Mali's Constitutional Court rejected the allegations and the head of the EU election observer mission, Louis Michel, praised the electoral process for its transparency. Ahead of Sunday's second round, for which some 21,000 polling stations opened across Mali at 08:00 GMT, Mr Michel said he had been "positively surprised" by preparations. Mr Keita - who is popularly known by his initials, "IBK" - has urged voters to give him what he called a "clear and clean" majority in the run-off. "My first priority would be the reconciliation of the country. After the trauma that it has suffered, a new start is needed," he told reporters on Saturday.
