Il Nuovo Postiglione - Ivory Coast's Ouattara set for fourth term, early results suggest

Ouattara, 83, has led the world's top cocoa producer since 2011, when the country began reasserting itself as a west African economic powerhouse.

Official results from some of Ouattara's northern strongholds showed him winning upwards of 90 percent of the vote with turnout close to 100 percent.

The veteran was also ahead in traditionally pro-opposition areas in the south and parts of the economic hub Abidjan, where polling stations had been almost empty on Saturday.

The electoral commission is set to publish results from all regions by the end of the day, with a compiled tally expected late on Sunday or early Monday.

"Doubts can be raised about the legitimacy of a president elected under these conditions," he added.

Electoral commission president Ibrahime Coulibaly-Kuibiert put turnout at around 50 percent -- a similar level to 2020, when Ouattara won 94 percent of the vote in an election boycotted by the main opponents.

- Poll violence -

This time around, Ouattara's leading rivals -- former president Laurent Gbagbo and Credit Suisse ex-CEO Tidjane Thiam -- were both barred from standing, Gbagbo for a criminal conviction and Thiam for having acquired French nationality.

With key contenders out of the race, Ouattara was the overwhelming favourite to secure a fourth term.

None of the four candidates who faced Ouattara on Saturday represented a major party, nor did they have the reach of the ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP).

While election day was generally calm, incidents were reported at 200 polling stations across the country, according to security forces.

Clashes broke out in several localities in the south and west, but these incidents had "no major impact on the voting process", according to Interior Minister Vagondo Diomande.

On Saturday, a 13-year-old boy was killed by a shot fired in the centre-west town of Gregbeu and a Burkinabe national died during clashes in the Gadouan region, security sources told AFP.

Twenty-two others were injured by gunshots or stab wounds, one of whom is in critical condition.

Six people have died this month during the election period.

With the opposition calling for protests and unrest turning deadly in recent days, the government declared a night-time curfew in some areas and deployed 44,000 security forces.

The government also banned demonstrations, and the courts have sentenced several dozen people to three-year jail terms for disturbing the peace.

A smiling Ouattara was met with cheers from activists at his party's headquarters in Abidjan after polls closed on Saturday evening.

Q.Bernardi--INP