(Seychelles News Agency) - The only independent candidate standing in the Seychelles 2015 presidential elections, Philippe Boullé, voted at Les Mamelles, a district on the eastern coast of the main island of Mahé at around 10 am local time.

Boullé, who is participating in his fourth presidential race as an independent candidate, is a resident of the district which has a list of 2,408 registered voters.

The electoral area, which started to allow the voters inside to cast their votes at around 7.15 had seen over a 100 people cast their ballots by 8.30 am, In addition, some 150 voters of the district were expected to vote at special stations on the first two days of voting.

Nearly 71 thousand eligible Seychellois voters are being called to the polls this year, spread across 25 electoral districts on the three main inhabited islands of Mahé, Praslin and La Digue.

Thursday and Friday were the first two days of voting for people living and working on some of the more remote islands as well as in several special stations catering for example for people who work in essential services and are on duty today, as well as detained persons, either in holding cells or prisoners awaiting trial.

In an interview with the press, Boullé said he will be visiting several polling stations in the central and northern region of Mahé in the morning and will continue his visits in the south of the island in the afternoon.

The independent candidate noted that the people of Seychelles are used to the electoral process and that they should continue to perform their civic duty, while he also expressed dissatisfaction with regards to some aspects of the voting process.

“The most important thing at a polling station is the voters register. I am aware that there are people whose names are supposed to be on the register but are not there, on the other hand, there are certain people whose names are not supposed to be on the register but they are there. So I cannot say that I am satisfied, but the time has come for us to vote, I am calling on everyone to go and vote,” he told the local press.

Boullé has been taking part in presidential elections since 2001 when he obtained 0.86 percent of the votes, in 2006 he obtained 0.56 percent and in 2011 he managed to obtain 1.66 percent.

Since the establishment of the Third Republic, which saw the return of multi-party system in 1993, the ruling party has won every single presidential election in the first round.

The 2015 vote however, is one of the most highly contested, since the establishment of the third republic when the country adopted its current constitution in 1993, with a record number of six candidates standing.

Boullé’s opponents include incumbent James Michel who is bidding for a third and final five-year mandate.

The other four include three first timers; David Pierre, Patrick Pillay a former high-ranking figure within Parti Lepep and Alexcia Amesbury also the first female presidential candidate as well as Wavel Ramkalawan who has stood in four previous presidential elections.