Polling stations may stay open to clear voter backlog

Polling stations could remain open into the night in a bid to deal with the huge queues of voters in the Zimbabwean presidential elections, officials said today.

Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede said the backlog of voters could be cleared by extending voting hours beyond the official closing time of 7pm.

But he declined to comment on the opposition move to petition the High Court for an extension of voting for at least one day.

‘‘This is what happened yesterday and this is exactly what we will be doing tonight,’’ Mr Mudede said on ZTV state television.

‘‘If there are queues we shall make sure those queues are dealt with and we shall not close at seven o’clock.’’

Last night voting was extended after massive queues formed outside polling stations in the capital, Harare.

In the face of the opposition’s complaints that their vote was being affected by the slow work of polling officials in their urban strongholds, justice minister Patrick Chinamasa yesterday insisted that everyone who wanted to vote would be able to do so.

‘‘Everyone who wants to vote is going to vote,’’ Mr Chinamasa told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.

‘‘If necessary we can extend the vote there is no problem,’’ he said, adding that polling stations could remain open for an additional two days if necessary.

But today that suggestion was downplayed by another Government minister.

‘‘As we speak right now there are no national circumstances warranting an extension of the voting,’’ Information Minister Jonathan Moyo told state radio.

Yesterday, a dozen people were injured when police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at voters trying to force their way into a polling station in the western Harare township of Kuwadzana.

A crowd of 3,000 people tried to rush the building in what appeared to be a protest at the slow pace of the work of polling officials.

Police broke up several opposition rallies and arrested dozens of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai’s supporters.

Civic groups, opposition supporters and witnesses said violence and intimidation continued throughout the first day of voting, with militants breaking into one polling station and stealing voting materials.