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Last Updated: Feb 18th, 2011 - 17:52:04 |
Uganda voters took to the polls Friday to determine whether to extend the rule of longtime President Yoweri Musevini.
UPI reports that Musevi, who first seized power in 1986, is expected to be reelected, although he faces seven challengers.
International observers monitoring the polling reported foul play early on, saying ballot boxes were filled before the polls opened at 7 a.m. this morning, the New York Times reported.
Musevi's biggest adversary is Kizza Besigye, a former ally and personal physician who secured 37 percent of the vote in the 2006 presidential elections, AP reports. The 54-year-old opposition leader says he plans to release his own count of poll results and is threatening street protests if the vote does not line up with his supporters' expectations.
The BBC reported that voting was moving smoothly after initial delays.
About 14 million people are registered to vote for Uganda's presidential and parliamentary races, AP reports.
Preliminary results are expected to be released this weekend.
The vote follows an anti-incumbent movement spreading through Africa and the Middle East that has toppled autocrats in Tunisia and Egypt.
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