Tense presidential poll after clashes in Guinea

The worldwide Federation for Human Rights also called on candidates to appeal to their supporters for calm, as Guinea holds its second democratic elections in more than half a century.

The head of the EU’s mission to observe the vote, Frank Engel, said he hoped the vote would be free and fair during a visit to N’Zerekore, where at least one person was killed and 80 wounded in clashes this week.

Those who want to follow the 2015 Guinea election results live online will be able to find voting totals at AllAfrica, which has provided ongoing coverage of the election.

This country is also still fighting Ebola.

Tension remained high in the capital, Conakry, after the clashes, with ethnic tension on the rise though the weeks-long campaign for the election has been largely peaceful.

“What Ebola has made clear is many ordinary Guineans’ deep mistrust of government”, said Mike McGovern, a West Africa expert and associate professor of anthropology at University of Michigan. The gendarmes are bandits, they support the ruling party.

Conde’s campaign, whose slogan is “progress is on the march”, has championed infrastructure projects to improve power supply in the poor, former French colony.

“Ethnic clashes could follow the election”, he said. This will be only the second presidential election for Guinea since the end of a military dictatorship in 2009.

Conde, now 77, won the country’s first democratic elections in 2010 after spending a few 30 years in exile, but they were marred by violence and accusations of fraud, as were legislative polls in 2013.

Seven candidates facing the president had previously called for the vote to be delayed for at least a week, citing doubts over the reliability of electoral lists and problems with the distribution of voter cards. But the national electoral group said it saw no evidence that warranted postponement.

“Even the gendarmes [police] are against us”, said Amedou Bah, who told Al Jazeera his shop in Madina had been burned down in Friday’s violence. Many political analysts believe that the vote will be close enough to require the second round of voting, adding even more uncertainty into what is already a volatile process.