election

(Newser) - Conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Segolene Royal won the first round of voting today to succeed French president Jacques Chirac, CNN reports. Based on vote counts from hundreds of polling stations, Sarkozy drew 30.46% of the votes, and Royal  24.41%. They will face each other in a runoff...

(Newser) - The highest Nigerian court ruled yesterday that opposition candidate Atiku Abubakar was illegally excluded from last Saturday's presidential election. It is unclear whether the government—returned to power by a landslide in the voting—will comply with the ruling, the Times reports.

(Newser) - East Timor is holding its first presidential elections since independence from Indonesia five years ago, with voters choosing between Nobel Prize winner Jose Ramos-Horta and seven other candidates. It's hoped that the elections will stabilize the volitile country, where clashes between factions exploded in carnage last summer. International troops—mostly...