Ivory Coast’s Independent Electoral Commission announced on Monday that incumbent President Alassane Ouattara has won a fourth five-year term after securing 89.77% of the votes in the first round of the presidential election.
Jean-Louis Billon came in second with 3.09% of the votes, followed by Simone Ehivet Gbagbo — the former wife of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo — with 2.42%. Ahoua Don Mello received 1.97%, while former minister Henriette Lagou garnered only 1.15%.
Attention had been focused on the voter turnout, which stood at 50.10%, marking a slight decline compared to the 2020 election, when turnout reached 53.90%.
The northern regions — the president’s birthplace and traditional stronghold of his party, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) — witnessed a large voter turnout, contributing to Ouattara’s sweeping victory from the first round.