Former Prime Minister Roch March Christian Kabore holds a strong lead as results trickle in from Burkina Faso’s presidential election.

Journalist Emilie Iob, reporting for VOA from Ouagadougou, says partial returns Monday showed Kabore ahead with more than 50 percent of the vote, setting up the possibility Kabore will win a first-round victory.

Burkina Faso’s electoral commission has called a news conference for midnight, local time, to announce the overall results of Sunday’s vote.

Five million registered voters were eligible to select from among a slate of 14 presidential candidates.  Kabore and longtime opposition leader Zephirin Diabre were considered the frontrunners.

A second round of voting will be held if no candidate wins a majority.

The elections are meant to restore democratic rule in the West African country, a year after former president Blaise Compaore was forced out after 27 years in power.   The vote was originally set for October but was delayed by a brief, failed military coup.
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