Presidential elections were held in Senegal on 27 February 2000, with a second round taking place on 19 March after no candidate won over 50% of votes in the first round. Although incumbent President Abdou Diouf of the Socialist Party won the most votes in the first round, he was defeated by long-term opposition leader Abdoulaye Wade of the Senegalese Democratic Party in the second round,[1] marking the first time that the Socialist Party and its predecessors had lost power since independence. Voter turnout was 62% in the first round and 61% in the second.