Dakar, Senegal (CNN) -- Polls closed Sunday in Senegal where citizens voted in an election overshadowed by violence as protesters demand the elderly president refrain from seeking another term. 

President Abdoulaye Wade, 85, was booed and jeered when he cast his ballot at a polling station in the middle-class neighborhood of Point E. He did not address the crowd, looked visibly frustrated at one point, and made some sort of gesture to the crowd, which also included some of his supporters. 

If a candidate does not win 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held next month in the West African nation. 

"We've had enough of this regime of thieves and assassins. We will defeat them here," said Cheikh Gassama, a voter at the Point E station. As the president arrived, he and other chanted "Na Dem," which means "step down" in Senegal's predominant Wolof language. 

Senegal is one of the continent's most stable democracies. Past elections have included a smooth transition of power, a rarity in a region with a history of election chaos, civil wars and coups. 

Turnout on Sunday was low, according to Thijs Berman, chief observer of the European Union monitoring mission. 

"Early in the morning, you saw long queues of people in front of polling stations but, later in the day, there were much less people and it seems that the turnout is below 50%," he said. "There was high political tension before these elections, so it is surprising that so few people came to vote." 
Who is the current president?
President Abdoulaye Wade,