Zimbabwe's opposition says delays deliberate

Vote counting at a polling station in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Photo / AP

Zimbabwe's leading opposition candidate has accused the country's electoral authorities of trying to suppress voter turnout at presidential elections overnight on Monday (NZT), raising fears of a disputed outcome to the historic poll.

Millions of Zimbabweans turned out to vote in the country's first presidential, parliamentary and local government elections since dictator Robert Mugabe was ousted in a military coup in November.

The outcome will decide whether Emmerson Mnangagwa, a 75-year-old former ally of Mugabe, or Nelson Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer and preacher leading the opposition MDC Alliance, will be the next president.

The only poll released in the run-up to the vote showed Mnangagwa leading by just 3 per cent, and the results, which must be announced by Saturday, are expected to be tight.

Chamisa, who has repeatedly accused electoral authorities of colluding with Mnangagwa and his Zanu-PF Party, claimed queues at some polling stations in Harare were a deliberate attempt to reduce turnout in traditional strongholds of the MDC Alliance.

"There seems to be a deliberate attempt to suppress and frustrate the urban vote," Chamisa wrote on Twitter. "Good turn out but the people's will being negated & undetermined due to these deliberate & unnecessary delays."

There were queues of up to one hour at Harare polling stations visited by the Daily Telegraph. Polling stations are technically obliged to remain open until all those still in line at 7pm local time, when polling closes, have voted.

Elmar Brok, the European Union chief observer, said many voters left queues in frustration at long delays but that it was as yet unclear whether those delays were deliberate or down to poor management.

No violence was reported. However, several voters said memories of 2008, when Mugabe unleashed thugs to terrorise MDC activists and supporters, still loomed large. Another observer, in contact with groups in other parts of the country, said there had been incidents of intimidation.

"I'm glad we voted. We really badly need change," said a 61-year-old man who cast his ballot in the Harare suburb of Newlands.