NIAMEY, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The elections of municipal councillors went smoothly in the urban community of Niamey, Niger's capital, and in the interior of the West African country on Sunday.

Hassan Hama, the head of polling station No. 104 in Niamey ll district, told reporters that the voting was going on normally despite the low turnout in the morning.

"At the moment the voters have started coming in slowly, but we expect that from now until the end of the voting exercise, we shall have maximum voting," he said.

At the polling station No.116 within the same district, presiding officer Abdoul Aziz Boubacar said the voters were comingin dribs and drabs.

A slightly higher participation was reported at the polling station No. 46 in Niamey l district. "In the beginning, we had some fears, the people were coming in dribs and drabs but now it's all right," Abdelaziz said.

The same atmosphere was witnessed at Niamey lll district at the polling station No. 81. According to presiding officer of this station Moussa Marou, "voting is going on well and there are a number of voters who are still waiting outside."

In the other seven regions of the country, including Maradi, Zinder, Dosso, Tillabery, Diffa, Agadez, and Tahoua, voting went on in calm.

In all the constituencies, no major incident was reported at more than 19,000 polling stations across the country.

More than 6 million Nigeriens have been asked to go to the polls to elect councillors who are expected to lead the 266 districts in the country.

The polls coincided with the election of a member of parliament of the Tassara constituency, which was cancelled in October because of irregularities.

The vote came after Niger held a referendum in August and legislative elections in October. The West African bloc ECOWAS imposed sanctions on Niger, saying the steps are unconstitutional and aimed at extending President Mamadou Tandja's term of office.