Polls began closing in Zimbabwe on Saturday after voters cast ballots for Parliament and president with incumbent Robert Mugabe battling to extend his near three-decades rule.
Agence France-Presse correspondents at polling stations said officers began closing doors at 7pm (5pm GMT) after 12 hours of voting but allowed people who were still queueing to cast their ballots.
Voting passed mostly calmly, according to police.
Turnout in parts of the country appeared low, according to polling officers, but participation figures were not immediately available.
About 5,9-million voters were eligible to pick a president as well as members of the national assembly and nearly 2 000 local councils.
Mugabe, who has ruled the former British colony uninterrupted since independence in 1980, is up against former finance minister Simba Makoni and Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
MDC says lack of ballots
The MDC said on Saturday afternoon that there were insufficient presidential ballot papers in some constituencies in Manicaland.
”I have received reports that presidential ballot papers have run out at a polling station in Mt Dzuma and in Wards 29 and 30 of Makoni South, said MDC official Itai Marombedza.
Moffat Masabeya, the provincial elections officer, was not immediately available for comment.
Mugabe said on Saturday he would accept the results even if he is defeated.
Counting was to commence at polling stations minutes after the closure and partial results were expected to start trickling in shortly after counting ended.
Stealing victory
The opposition said Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party planned to steal victory through multiple balloting by its supporters.
It said voting ink could be removed from ballots with detergent.
Combined with a bloated voter role and the printing of three million extra ballot papers this ”ensures that there will be multiple voting” said Tendai Biti, a senior MDC official.
”There is absolutely no doubt we have won this election,” he added.
Many voters said they wanted a new government.
”I am voting for change. I am praying for a free and fair election. It is the only way this country can move forward,” said Richard Mutedzi (25), a trained mechanic who voted in Chitungwiza, 30km south of Harare.
He said he was forced to sell odds and ends because of lack of work.
Despite the odds stacked against Mugabe (84), many analysts believe he will be declared the victor.
Mugabe oozed his usual confidence when he voted in Harare on Saturday. ”We will succeed. We will conquer,” he said, denying that he planned to steal the vote. ”Why should I cheat? The people are there supporting us. The moment the people stop supporting you, then that’s the moment you should quit politics,” he said.
Mother of three, Gertrude Muzanenhamo (36), voted early in the poor township of Warren Park, telling reporters: ”People are dying in hospitals and funeral expenses are very high. How do you expect us to survive? Shop shelves are empty.”
Sagodolu Sikhosana, a rural villager in the opposition stronghold of Matabeleland, said after voting: ”Things have been too hard for too long. I think now there needs to be a change and they need to take us more seriously.”
Vote largely peaceful
Voting was largely peaceful but police said a bomb exploded in the house of a ruling party candidate in Zimbabwe’s second city of Bulawayo, an opposition stronghold. No-one was hurt.
”I can’t say Zimbabweans are cowards or that they are cautious. They are peace loving people but if Mugabe steals the election there will surely be trouble in this country,” red-eyed Leo Kariwo said as he waited to vote in a Harare township. – Reuters, AFP, CAJ