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HARARE - Zimbabwe's one-candidate presidential runoff got off to a slow start Friday, contrasting with the sense of excitement and hope voters had brought to the first round.
This time, with the only candidate a defiant Robert Mugabe, it is seen as an exercise that will not solve Zimbabwe's political crisis - and could even deepen it.
World leaders have dismissed the runoff, which follows a campaign of state-sponsored violence so intense the opposition candidate declared he could not run. On the eve of the vote, Nigeria had become the latest African nation to call for its postponement.
During the first round in March, hundreds of people were at polling stations by the time they opened at 7 in the morning. Friday morning, 10 people were at Harare's main polling station at opening time. Even fewer were seen at other stations. Observers had expected Mugabe to ensure his supporters turned out in large numbers, and to use violence and intimidation to get others to the polls to vote for him. There was no sign of that in the capital early Friday, but groups of the young men who have been the ruling party's enforcers were on the streets.
While some polling officials were still getting ready at 7 a.m., the station opened on time in Mbare, a crowded Harare neighborhood that is an opposition stronghold. Eight people at the Mbare station at opening time were quick to vote.
On the campaign trail Thursday, Mugabe said he was "open to discussion" with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, but only after the vote. Mugabe had shown little interest in talks and his government had scoffed at opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai's call Wednesday to work together to form a transitional authority.
Citing the violence, Tsvangirai withdrew from the runoff Sunday, leaving longtime President Mugabe the only candidate. Tsvangirai's name remained on the ballot - electoral officials say Tsvangirai announced his withdrawal too late.
Tsvangirai, in a voting day message to supporters distributed by email, said the results of the balloting would "reflect only the fear of the people of Zimbabwe."
Tsvangirai was first in a field of four in March. The official tally said he did not gain the votes necessary to avoid a runoff against the second place finisher, Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for nearly three decades. Tsvangirai's party and its allies also won control of parliament in March, dislodging Mugabe's party for the first time since independence in 1980.
Mugabe was once hailed as a post-independence leader committed to development and reconciliation, but in recent years has been denounced as a dictator intent only on holding onto power.
Efforts to dislodge him at the ballot box have repeatedly been stymied by fraud and intimidation.
Kubatana, a website forum for independent Zimbabwean human rights groups, said Mugabe appeared ready to use force to stage-manage a large turnout in his favor Friday. It reported supporters were manning illegal roadblocks on main streets and highways where police were not present.
Witnesses reported nine checkpoints on a 200 kilometer (120 mile) stretch of highway from the eastern city of Mutare, five of them manned only by militants.
Kubatana reported witnesses saying Mugabe supporters told voters to turn out for Friday's poll in large numbers to give Mugabe a landslide win and those without indelible ink stains from polling stations on their fingers would be seen as opposition supporters boycotting the vote in support of Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the runoff.
The website also reported Mugabe officials demanding voters write down the serial number of their ballot paper so their vote could be checked later.
Tsvangirai, in his voting day message, also said he expected voters to be threatened and to told to record their ballot paper numbers and to expect cameras to record their votes. He advised them not to resist.
"God knows what is in your heart. Don't risk your lives."
Harare had been tense on the eve of the vote. Ruling party pickup trucks laden with young men wearing T-shirts and Mugabe campaign scarves roamed downtown.
Businesses and factories closed down around noon. Most schools had been shut since Monday, with parents called by teachers to collect their children because there were "strangers" camped in vacant land who were said to be Mugabe militants.
In grasslands and wooded areas, militants have set up camps used for political meetings in recent days.
In a main parking lot for buses in downtown Harare, most minivan taxis and buses were also plastered with Mugabe stickers, fliers, posters, flags and bandannas.
Several drivers said militants ordered them to bedeck their vehicles with Mugabe campaign fliers or they would be forced to stop plying their routes. Many private cars also carried Mugabe stickers and fliers.
As during the first round, individual polling stations will have to post tallies, an innovation hammered out in talks between the opposition and Mugabe's party mediated by South African President Thabo Mbeki. That allowed the independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network and the opposition to compile their own results, making fraud difficult. But this time, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said it was unable to field monitors because they had not been accredited by the government. And the opposition, boycotting the vote, also will not be monitoring results.
The African Union; the Southern African Development Community, the main regional bloc; and African parliamentarians were observing the runoff, but many believe they would not have sufficient people on the ground to make a difference.
