Lines were long at the polling stations here well before morning had unscrolled its first light. And when the doors did not open exactly at 7 a.m., voters in the impoverished township of Warren Park rushed the schoolyard gate, most of them desperate to cast a ballot to oust the man who has been president for most of their lives, Robert Mugabe. “People want him gone, finally and forever gone,” said Charles Musonza, an out-of-work tailor and one of those surging toward the front. “Zimbabwe has been ruined by Mugabe. There is no future if he wins.”Mr. Musonza ordinarily considers himself nothing more than a flyspeck within the hinges of power, but Saturday was election day here, the people’s day, his day. The voters, he said, held the power now.
Still, Mr. Mugabe is so often accused of stealing the last presidential election that many Zimbabweans scoff at the very notion of a fair vote. In 2002, reported results had challenger Morgan Tsvangirai piling up a big lead. Then, suddenly, the announcements stopped. When they resumed, hours later, Mr. Mugabe was well ahead.
Results from SaturdayÂ’s presidential race are not expected until Sunday at the earliest. By and large, the vote was peaceful, with the long lines dissipating as the day went on. There were only minor reports of irregularities at the polls.
But questions about a fix — will it happen, how will it be done — hung in the air, so much so that Mr. Mugabe, 84, addressed the matter to reporters as he voted at a Harare primary school. “We do not rig elections,” he said dismissively, dressed, as is his custom, in a finely tailored suit and well-buffed shoes. “We have that sense of honesty. I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have cheated in elections.” He added, “Why should I cheat? The people are there supporting us.”