Domingos Simoes Pereira (L) and Umaro Sissoco Embalo (R)

Voters in Guinea-Bissau cast their ballots in a presidential runoff Sunday with the hope of ending months of political turmoil in the coup-prone West African state.

Iran Press/Africa: Some 700,000 registered voters have a choice between two former prime ministers, Domingos Simoes Pereira, from the traditional ruling PAIGC party, and opposition figure Umaro Sissoco Embalo.

Both are promising a better economic future in a country wracked by poverty, instability, and corruption in one of the world's poorest nations, AFP reported.

Incumbent Jose Mario Vaz crashed out of the race in the first round in November -- becoming the first elected president in 25 years to reach the end of his mandate without being ousted or dying in office, in a country where the military has loomed large in politics.

Electoral commission head Felisberta Vaz Moura told AFP mid-afternoon that participation was healthy. "Voting is going well across the country with no incidents reported," Moura said.

Nearly 70 percent of Guinea-Bissau's 1.8 million people live on less than $1.90 a day and the country ranks 178th out of 189 on the UN Human Development Index.

The small tropical country gained independence from Portugal in 1974, but has suffered a string of military coups, attempted coups and political assassinations ever since.

After the latest coup in 2012, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS deployed a nearly 700-member force to try to stabilize the fragile nation.104/205

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