Malians have gone to the polls in the second round of a presidential election. Incumbent Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is facing off against opposition leader Somaila Cisse. CGTN's Peninah Karibe is in the capital, Bamako, and filed this report.

No delays for polls to open in Sunday's run-off vote. Incumbent president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was one of the first to cast his vote. And he referred to the light as an African blessing. 

JEAN-MARIE NGONDJIBANGANGTE ELECTION OBSERVER "The news we are getting is that everything is going on well but there are some issues in some rural areas but here in Bamako because of the rain, people have not yet come to vote but as the day goes by we expect the turnout to increase."

PENINAH KARIBE BAMAKO, MALI "There are over 10 voting streams in this polling station and most of them are empty. And despite optimism by some observers that turn out will pick up as the day progresses, the situation has not changed much."

But ahead of the vote there were concerns over a low voter turnout - and it had nothing to do with the weather.

CHEIKH BERTHE VOTER "I don't think the government has been able to secure all the areas because there are areas that terrorists attack and even if the government says it has deployed security personnel there, people there will still be afraid to come out and vote."

ABDULRAHMAN KONATE VOTER "I think it's a question of choice, because the two guys who are here they are 75 years and 69 and really the Malian population expected change so that's why you see there are not a lot of people because there is a lack of choice for whom to vote."

The first round of voting last month was marred by opposition accusations of irregularities. Opposition leader Soumaila Cisse cites cases of ballot stuffing and parallel electoral lists. And it's believed a fifth of the country's polling stations couldn't operate due to security concerns. Those concerns continued in the second round.

JEAN-MARIE NGONDJIBANGANGTE ELECTION OBSERVER "We met with the security minister and he promised to send security personnel to secure the high-risk areas during this exercise."

Authorities deployed additional security forces for the vote. 36-thousand of them have been trying to keep the peace. Their presence has done little to assure many voters.

ABDULRAHMAN KONATE VOTER "The government is lack of everything, they didn't prepare anything to organize what is in this area. The insecurity has been here since 2011 but really it increased in 2013 and since that day, the north and southern parts of Mali there is insecurity so there is no opportunity for them to vote. so you know now Mali is divided in to two we can say only the southern part but the northern part they are not voting so how can you talk about a democratic process."

And a low voter turn-out could put into question the legitimacy of the vote. But president Keita has been adamant. He believes Mali's troubles are now over. Peninah Karibe, CGTN, Bamako, Mali.