Yeah Samake, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and one of the 28 Malian presidential candidates, brought in .56 percent of the votes in Mali's July 28 election.

Former prime minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita will have a run-off with former finance minister Soumaila Cisse because Keita’s 39.24 percent of votes failed to secure a clear majority. Mali’s second round of voting is scheduled for Aug. 11.

In a conference, Samake expressed his congratulations to Mali’s future president, as well as thanks to those who helped with his campaign. He has not released a statement on whether he plans to run for president again in the future.

This year’s election yielded a record 51.54 percent turnout, according to CBC News. Previous elections in the country never drew in more than 40 percent of registered voters. This election had been postponed more than a year because of a military coup that left Mali in an unstable condition.

Abby Stevens is a writer for the DeseretNews.com Faith and Family sections. She is a recent graduate of Brigham Young University–Idaho. Contact Abby at astevens@deseretdigital.com.