ANOTHER ELECTION FIASCOIN THE MAKING?


   ZANZIBAR, Oct 30 (AFP) - Elections in 16 of Zanzibar's 50 constituencies
were anulled late Sunday and counting of votes was suspended in
presidential,
parliamentary and local council polls, election officials announced.
   Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous state of Tanzania, made up two islands,
with
its own president and House of Representatives.
   The Zanzibar Election Commission (ZEC) "has cancelled voting in 12
constituencies in urban districts and four constituencies in western
districts," ZEC spokesman Idriss Jecha told journalists.
   Jecha explained that these were the areas worst affected by delays in
voting, which in polling stations visited by AFP, lasted up to five hours.
   He said that counting of votes across the islands of Unguja and Pemba,
which make up Zanzibar, had been suspended until the council elections were
reheld.
   Election observer Tom Bayer of the International Foundation for Electoral
Systems said that police had been seen removing boxes of electoral material
from at least one polling station.
   Vote counting in Pemba was halted around 8:00 pm (1700 GMT), he said.
   In contrast to a smooth polling day on mainland Tanzania, election day in
Zanzibar got off to a bad start, with no polling stations in the vicinity of
Zanzibar town reported to have opened on time, and with a litany of
irregularities either observed by journalists or reported by party agents.
   The most important election here was that for the presidency, fiercely
and
closely contested by the ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi or Revolutionary Party
and
the opposition Civic United Front.
   In the run-up to the polls, both sides had predicted victory while the
CUF
had made numerous allegations of pre-polling day irregularities.
   After waiting almost four hours to be allowed to vote, CUF presidential
candidate Seif Shariff Hamad said around midday Sunday: "You can't say we
have
an election now, just chaos."
   afm/bm

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