Senegal's veteran leader Abdoulaye Wade has won a second term in the country's presidential elections, according to provisional results.

But one of the leading opposition parties, the Socialist Party, which ruled the country for four decades before being ousted by Wade in 2000 elections, said it was contesting the poll outcome.

Figures from the west African country's 35 administrative districts published by the APS news agency gave the 80-year-old Wade 55.7 per cent of the votes cast, enough to win a final five-year term in the first round.

The polls have been seen as a test case of the reputation for stability that Senegal has enjoyed since French rule ended in 1960.

Senegal is considered a regional oasis of democracy and is the only country in the volatile region to have never experienced a coup.

"We will not accept these results," said Aissata Tall Sall, spokeswoman for  Socialist Party leader Ousmane Tanor Dieng, one of the leading candidates.

She described the campaign as "the most truncated elections of our history".

Wade, who became president after almost three decades in opposition, beat his former prime minister Idrissa Seck who trailed behind with less than 20 per cent of the votes, followed by the socialist leader.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has given  the polls, which largely passed off peacefully, their stamp of approval, declaring the elections "free and transparent".

The polls saw a record turnout of voters put at 75 per cent by officials in the predominantly Muslim country.

But according to Tuesday's figures some 3.35 million people cast their ballots out of about 4.9 million eligible voters.

PHOTO CAPTION

Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade, looks at the election ink on his finger after he cast his ballot, during elections in Dakar, Senegal, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2007. (AP)