http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6604795.stmMali votes to elect new president
Voters in Mali are going to the polls in presidential elections contested by eight candidates.
President Amadou Toumani Toure - who is seeking a second and final five-year term - is seen as a clear favourite.
Although officially running as an independent, he is backed by more than 30 parties in the West African nation.
Opposition candidates say the voters' list favours the incumbent, accusing Mr Toure's supporters of using state assets to fund his electoral campaign.
The strongest opposition challenger is Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, the president of Mali's national assembly and former prime minister who came third in the 2002 poll.
Cotton farmers
Part of Mr Toure's popularity stems from the fact that he played a leading role in ending military dictatorship with a coup 16 years ago, says the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross.
He says turnout is likely to be low as many voters have not picked up their registration cards.
Nearly 1,000 international and local observers are expected to monitor the polls.
Mali is Africa's third largest gold producer but the vast majority of the country's 14 million people live off the land, our correspondent says.
The plight of the cotton farmers had been a key election issue, he says.
Analysts hope the elections will go some way to boost democracy in the region, especially after the widely criticised polls in Nigeria, our correspondent says.
One African human rights organisation has said that democracy seems to be losing steam.
If no candidate gets an absolute majority in the first round, the two top candidates will compete in a run-off in two week's time.
