Madagascar holds its presidential election today

Voter casts ballot in Madagascar presidential elections. PHOTO/Stephane De Sakutin/AFP

Residents of the island-nation of Madagascar voted Friday in a presidential election they hope will restore security, improve lives and mark the end of political and economic turmoil brought about by a 2009 coup.

Voter turnout increased by the afternoon after a slow start in the morning as residents chose to go to work instead of the polls. At the start of the vote, only 50 voters in line at a public junior school on the outskirts of Antananarivo, the capital.

Elections observers and other officials revealed that polling was going well.

Government officials have declared Friday a holiday to allow voters to cast their ballots.

Madagascar, off Africa’s east coast on the Indian Ocean, plunged into turmoil after current President Andry Rajoelina, a former disc jockey and mayor of the capital Antananarivo, seized power from ousted President Marc Ravalomanana with the help of the military in 2009.