Polling agents start to count the ballots for the Liberian presidential election at a polling station in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 10, 2017.
Polls have closed in Liberia, where voters Tuesday cast ballots in a presidential election that marks the West African nation's first fully democratic transition of power in more than 70 years.
The country's 2.1 million registered voters were choosing the successor to Nobel Peace laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first female elected head of state, who is stepping down after serving two six-year terms, as mandated by Liberia's constitution.
The officials results are expected in two weeks.
The U.S. State Department called the election "an important step toward achieving Liberia's first peaceful transfer of power from one democratically elected head of state to another."
With 20 people running for the nation's highest office, analysts do not believe anyone will win over 50 percent of the vote, forcing a runoff in November.
FILE - Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf addresses a news conference during a visit to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, Feb. 28, 2017.
Among those looking to replace President Sirleaf are her vice president, Joseph Bokai, football icon George Weah, opposition leader Charles Brumskine, and ex-Coca-Cola executive Alexander Cummings. Only one woman is vying for the presidency, while another woman, Jewel Howard Taylor, is the running mate of George Weah.
Taylor is the ex-wife of former president and warlord Charles Taylor, who was convicted of war crimes in connection with his role in the conflict in neighboring Sierra Leone.
In Photos: Liberia Elections
1/12People wait to vote during the presidential election at a polling station in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 10, 2017.
2/12An election official shows to a woman how to cast her ballot during Liberia's presidential election in Monrovia, Oct. 10, 2017.
3/12Yaponiyaning "Xayabusa-2” missiyasi doirasida Ryugu asteroidi yuzasidan olingan tuproq namunalari ortilgan kapsula Avstraliya janubidagi Vumera hududiga qo‘ndi
4/12Two observers are seen during presidential elections at a polling station in Monrovia, Oct. 10, 2017.
5/12Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Liberia's vice president and presidential candidate of Unity Party (UP), votes at a polling station in Monrovia, Oct. 10, 2017.
6/12People wait to vote during the presidential election at a polling station of Duport Road in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 10, 2017.
7/12George Weah, former soccer player and presidential candidate of Congress for Democratic Change (CDC), votes at a polling station in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 10, 2017.
8/12Liberians gather to vote in an election that for the first time in more than 70 years will see one democratically elected government hand power to another.
9/12Election workers move boxes of voting materials at the National Electoral Commission headquarters in Monrovia, Oct. 9, 2017.
10/12Supporters of Joseph Nyuma Boakai, Liberia's Vice President and presidential candidate of Unity Party (UP), attend their party's presidential campaign rally in Monrovia, Oct. 7, 2017
11/12Supporters of Alexander Cummings, presidential candidate of the Alternative National Congress (ANC), attend a meeting during their party's presidential campaign rally at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 07, 2017.
12/12A supporter of former soccer player and presidential candidate of Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) George Weah stands behind a presidential campaign banner in Monrovia, Oct. 6, 2017.
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Sirleaf has led Liberia through a prolonged period of peace in the aftermath of a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003. But the country remains plagued by corruption, and is still trying to recover from the Ebola crisis that killed 5,000 people in 2014 and 2015.
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