Voting began Saturday in Sierra Leone's presidential runoff, a ballot to choose the West African nation's first new leader since U.N. peacekeepers withdrew two years ago, according to AP. The poll took place against the backdrop of a tense electoral campaign that saw political rivals clash with fists and stones. Observers view the election as a chance to measure whether Sierra Leone, still recovering from a decade of war that ended in 2002, can truly stand on its own and transfer power peacefully. Opposition leader Ernest Bai Koroma, 54, is running against Vice President Solomon Berewa, 69, of the ruling party. Turnout appeared much lower than the first round Aug. 11, with only small queues at polling stations in the capital, Freetown. Voters who turned up said others stayed home because they feared violence.
