MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) -- Liberian voters waited in snaking queues at churches, schools and empty, long-shuttered bank buildings, hoping Tuesday's presidential balloting would mark an end to a quarter century of coups, despotic rule and fighting that killed tens of thousands.The heavy turnout -- some voters arrived hours before polling began -- was a sign of the burden of expectation placed on the voting. Vying for the West African nation's top job are 22 candidates -- including former international soccer phenomenon George Weah, Harvard-educated politician Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and two ex-rebel leaders."I'm voting for a better life, a better leader that can bring peace," said Willie Miller. "Years ago, the country was good ... it was beautiful. Now we're bad off, barely able to feed ourselves."Founded by freed American slaves in the mid-1800s, Africa's first republic was once among its richest countries, with vast fields of gems and valuable groves of hardwood trees and rubber plants. It has known little but strife since a first coup in 1980. Years of war ended in 2003 after warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor stepped down amid a rebel invasion of the capital. A transitional government led by Gyude Bryant has ruled the country since.After years of war that killed 200,000 people, hundreds of thousands of refugees still live in relief camps or squat in buildings abandoned by the government. Leaders have offered the people little but venal, corrupt governance for decades.A nascent, postwar calm is guarded by 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers, out in stronger-than-usual force Tuesday on foot and in tanks in the potholed streets of the capital, Monrovia. White U.N. helicopters circled overhead.The voting, though, was peaceful. Many voters sat on benches they brought with them in anticipation of a long wait or huddled under umbrellas to shelter from alternating periods of rain and pounding tropical sunshine. Voting stations were lit by battery-powered lamps.After processing votes for 10 hours, election workers began closing polling stations on schedule at 6 p.m. (1800 GMT), although voters who were queued up before then were permitted to cast their vote. A candidate must gain more than 50 percent of the ballots lodged on Tuesday to avoid a runoff with the runner-up. Results must be posted within 15 days, although a final tally is expected earlier. A second round, if necessary, would be held in early November.The top U.S. official for Africa hailed Tuesday's election. But Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer added: "This is a beginning, not an end point."In a radio address on Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the elections the opening of "a new chapter in the history of Liberia."The winner of Tuesday's vote must attract foreign investors, jump-start the economy and knit together a society riven by a conflict typified by the murders and rapes of civilians by crack-smoking fighters clad in wigs and women's ball gowns to frighten foes.Some 100,000 former combatants have been disarmed. Training them with marketable skills and reintegrating them into society as useful members of a thriving economy is perhaps the greatest challenge facing Liberia.Weah confidentWhile no polling data exist, many believe the front-runner in the crowded field is Weah, 39. He was Africa's first-ever FIFA World Footballer of the Year, laurels he won in 1995.Weah's rise from a Monrovia slum to soccer stardom has captivated much of Liberia's youth -- including many demobilized fighters. But his critics say he has neither the education nor the management experience to govern Liberia.Weah was confident of victory on Tuesday."If this is a free and fair election, definitely we will win it. Because the masses are tired," he told reporters.Also drawing large crowds at rallies is Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-educated, 66-year-old veteran of Liberia's often-deadly politics. With a long history of work as a government minister and with overseas banks and international organizations, Johnson-Sirleaf is hailed by many as an astute administrator.Her detractors say she's part of a political class that has only led to Liberia's ruination and needs to be swept aside. If voted into office, her campaign says she would become Africa's first elected female president.Voters want peaceFor voters, one qualification trumps all others: to ensure peace after years of war begun in 1989 by Taylor, who won intimidation-marred elections in 1997 after a year-earlier peace deal. We need peace so we can have development. Before, Liberia looked good. Now it's a dump, a dustbin. -- James Tokpah, farmer Taylor stepped down in August 2003 and fled Liberia for as fighters in a four-year rebellion besieged his remaining stronghold, Monrovia.Taylor -- accused of war crimes by a U.N.-backed tribunal in neighboring Sierra Leone for his role in that country's brutal civil war -- is now living in exile in Nigeria.Voters ticking off choices for president and other federal-level legislators on a half-yard (half-meter) long ballot said they were voting for a candidate best able to keep the peace -- a calm that would allow economic growth."We need peace so we can have development," said James Tokpah, a 58-year old farmer. "Before, Liberia looked good. Now it's a dump, a dustbin."Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.