Parliamentary election runoff focuses on Ivory Coast town

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Voting in Ivory Coast's turbulent parliamentary election went to a runoff in one town on Sunday after a dead heat in last week's poll.

Electoral officials told Reuters polling stations had opened as planned at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT) in the constituency of Logouale, a small western town where two independent candidates each won 1,849 votes in last Sunday's poll.

Another constituency, where one candidate died during the campaign, will vote on January 7, and polling has yet to be organized for 27 northern seats where the December 10 election was abandoned due to violence and a boycott by one party.

At least two dozen people were killed in the violence after the Rally of the Republicans party called a boycott because its leader, former Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara, was excluded.

Of the seats already decided in the 225-member assembly, the Ivorian Popular Front of Socialist President Laurent Gbagbo holds 96, while the former ruling Democratic Party has 77 and says it has the support of 12 out of 16 elected independents.

The remainder of seats went to minor parties.

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