A voter casts his ballot at a polling station in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Dec. 19, 2018. Voters went to the polls in Madagascar's second round presidential election on Wednesday to select a new president from two competing former presidents. (Xinhua/Sitraka)
ANTANANARIVO, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Voters went to the polls in Madagascar's second round presidential election on Wednesday to select a new president from two competing former presidents.
More than 9 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots at 24,852 polling stations across the Indian Ocean island country from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. local time.
The second round of election is a contest between former transitional president Andry Rajoelina and former president Marc Ravalomanana.
Madagascar kicked off its presidential election on Nov. 7 with 36 candidates running for the presidency. Since no candidate won 50 percent of the votes in the first round, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared a runoff between the top two candidates with the highest support.
According to the INEC, the result will be released on Dec. 31.
