Big turnout for vote on Mugabe’s fate

By Angus Shaw and Gillian Gotora

HARARE — In an election that poses one of the biggest threats to President Robert Mugabe’s 33-year grip on power, Zimbabweans flocked to polling stations Wednesday despite suspicions that vote-counting could be rigged in a nation beset by bitter division and economic hardship. 

Bundled against the winter chill, thousands of voters stood patiently in long lines in the poor Harare township of Mbare and other areas. Observers said turnout was high, reflecting the critical stakes of a race that was relatively peaceful in contrast with violent elections in 2008.

Activists believe a big turnout is likely to favor Mugabe’s popular challenger, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, by blunting the impact of any manipulation of voters’ rolls. Mugabe, who barred Western observer missions, says allegations of vote-rigging amount to mudslinging by opponents.

“Things are going well at this stage of the process,” said Nikita Buturlin, an observer from the Russian Federation. “The numbers are impressive. If there are difficulties, they will come later.”

Some voters were wary, bringing their own pens into the voting booth after hearing rumors that the ink in state-provided pens would disappear after several hours, enabling ballot manipulation.

Ten public buses from South Africa carrying expatriate voters from Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change party were impounded at the border to Zimbabwe, said party member Gilbert Maganda. AP