KINSHASA, Congo — Congo’s election officials began counting ballots Sunday evening, although many polling stations stayed open into the night to make up for lengthy delays in voting.
Numerous problems hampered voting across the country, marring the presidential election the country hoped would be its first peaceful, democratic transfer of power since independence in 1960.
Election observers reported multiple difficulties around the vast Central African nation, which is choosing a successor to President Joseph Kabila after his 17 years in power. The election had been delayed since late 2016, prompting the opposition to charge that Kabila was trying to stay on past his mandate.
While many polls closed in the evening, others stayed open to allow those waiting in line to cast their ballots and at least one polling station was just getting ready to open.
The voting center at Les Anges school in Kinshasa had not opened during the day because it did not have battery cables to power the voting machines and the center did not have a voters’ roll. At midday frustrated voters looted the polling station, ripping up ballot papers and burning some voting machines. Police restored order with no casualties.
The Les Anges station finally got what it needed and opened for voting after official closing time. Election officials said they would stay open until everyone in line had voted. As night fell an electricity generator was set up to help people vote in darkness.
Other polling stations had closed and the counting of ballots had begun. Official results are to be announced by Jan. 15, although preliminary returns are expected earlier than that.
Among some 21 candidates, top opposition leaders Martin Fayulu and Felix Tshisekedi are challenging Kabila’s preferred successor, former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, who is under European Union sanctions for a crackdown on people protesting delays to the election.
Tshisekedi, after casting his ballot, said some polling stations in Kinshasa, the capital, had not even opened six hours after voting began.
He accused Congo’s government of deliberately creating an election day mess to spark a court challenge that could allow Kabila to extend his time in power.
“I deplore all the disorder,” Tshisekedi said, calling Kabila’s government “responsible for this mess.”
The voting machines that Congo was using for the first time posed a special problem. The opposition has warned that the machines could be used to manipulate the vote. Many of the country’s 40 million voters have never used a computer, and electricity is limited.
The Catholic Church’s election observer mission said it had received 544 reports of malfunctioning voting machines. It also reported 115 cases of election observers being kicked out of polling centers or not being allowed access, as well as 44 cases of vote-buying or corruption.
