Benin's presidential voting underway despite slight delay

Voting operations for Benin's first round of presidential election were underway as planed although there was a slight delay when kicked off Sunday morning.

Scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. local time, voting started at quarter or half past 7 o'clock in some electoral districts, due to the delay in the conveyance of ballot papers, according to official source.

"For safety reasons, ballot papers have been provided early this morning to some local electoral commissions. It is thus impossible for them to allocate the ballots before the official voting operations start time", Sylvain Dossou-Yovo, official in charge of Vedoko1 Primary school polling station in Cotonou, told Xinhua reporter on the spot.

"After all, everything possible is done to ensure the voting operations to take the nine hours allowed by the electoral law", he said.

Some 4.7 million people are expected to vote in the election. They will choose among 33 candidates a new president for the West African country.

Elsewhere in the economic capital city Cotonou, voting was underway smoothly in polling stations of Zongo, Vedoko, Houeyiho 2, Gbegamey, Sainte Rita respectively in the fifth, sixth, tenth, twelfth and thirteenth polling districts.

In these areas, thousands of people were waiting in long queues to exercise their civic duty.

"I am very proud to exercise my civic duty by casting my vote this Sunday, for the candidate of my own choice", Cyprien Baloitcha, a retired civil administrator, told Xinhua.

The election, he said, is quite particular as it comes following the end of two constitutional term office of the incumbent president Boni Yayi whose term will end on April 6. Enditem