France, March 24 -- Voters in Senegal go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new president in an unpredictable race. It follows three years of political crisis, including fierce protests over the outgoing president's attempt to push back the vote.

Some 7.3 million voters are registered in the West African country, which has often been hailed as a stable democracy in a region that experienced several coups in recent years.

The election is set to be the country's fourth democratic transfer of power since Senegal gained independence from France in 1960.

Voting will end at 6pm local time and provisional results could be known overnight. The first official results are expected during the coming week.

With 17 candidates in the running, a seco...