NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Polling stations across Tanzania opened Wednesday for elections roiled by concerns from human rights groups…
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Polling stations across Tanzania opened Wednesday for a election marked by concerns from human rights organizations and the detention of opposition figures.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan is seeking a second term. She belongs to the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party, which has ruled the country since it gained independence in 1961.
There were lines at three polling stations visited by Associated Press journalists. Voting officially started at 7 a.m. local time and was scheduled to end at 4 p.m., after which vote counting will begin.
Preliminary results were expected within 24 hours, but the electoral commission has a maximum of seven days to announce the final results.
The leader of the main opposition CHADEMA party, Tundu Lissu, is in prison and accused of treason after calling for electoral reforms, while the candidate of the second largest opposition party was barred from running.
Amnesty International said the atmosphere around the polls was marked by fear and said it had verified cases of enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings before the election. The rights group said alleged abuses by security forces undermine the legitimacy of the elections.
Hassan is seeking her first full term after completing the term of her predecessor, John Pombe Magufuli, who died suddenly in 2021. Sixteen opposition candidates representing smaller parties are also on the ballot.
Tanzania has more than 37 million registered voters, a 26% increase from 2020, but that growth in voter registration is unlikely to lead to more people going to the polls, analysts warn, citing apathy at the appearance that Hassan will sail to victory unchallenged.
CHADEMA has called for protests on election day. Police dispersed several protesters who had gathered in the Kimara Kibo neighborhood of the commercial capital Dar es Salaam.
President Hassan had said no protests would be allowed.
An opposition party in the Tanzanian archipelago of Zanzibar, ACT Wazalendo, alleged that Tuesday’s early voting by election and security officials was marred by irregularities, including voters posing as security officials, and the exclusion of party representatives by election officials.
The electoral commission claims it followed the law in Tuesday’s early voting.
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