President of Zanzibar Amani Abeid Karume said on Sunday that the ongoing balloting would not take long thanks to thorough preparations.

The incumbent president, who is seeking a second term of office, made the remarks after he had cast his vote at his constituency of Kiembe Samaki.

"The balloting may complete by two o'clock in the afternoon," said the president.

A total of 1,560 polling stations opened around 07:00 local time on Sunday morning for some 507,225 eligible voters to cast their ballots to elect a new Zanzibar president, 50 new members to the Zanzibar House of Representatives and 139 new local government officials known as ward councilors.

The polling stations are to close at 05:00 on Sunday afternoon but voters who arrive before the closing deadline can still proceed with voting.

By Sunday evening, local people expect to learn the results of the Zanzibar parliamentary and local government elections, as counting of ballots of these two elections will be conducted right at the polling stations before being announced by the chief presiding officer.

The results of the Zanzibar presidential election, however, will only be announced by the Zanzibar Electoral Commission after it has gathered all the presidential votes from the polling stations for tallying.

Masauni Yusuf Masauni, chairman of the Zanzibar Electoral Commission, said that all the electoral preparations had been complete by Sunday morning.

In the past general elections held in 1995 and in 2000, local people complained about delayed arrivals of ballot materials such as ballot papers.

The delays allegedly caused disputes among voters and supporters of different political parties vying for the presidential race.

Source: Xinhua