President Likely to Win Boycotted Vote

Voting in Burkina Faso’s presidential election passed without incident, and President Blaise Compaore looked almost certain to win because of a poll boycott by the main opposition parties. About 4.2 million people were eligible to take part in the balloting. Provisional results are likely to be announced early today, with definitive figures due Wednesday, election officials said. Compaore, 47, in power since a 1987 coup, faced opposition in the polls for the first time, as two candidates broke with the opposition boycott to run against him. They were, however, expected to pose little threat, so attention centered on how many people bothered to turn out for Compaore. In the last election, in 1991, with Compaore unopposed because of an earlier opposition boycott, it was just 25%.