Voting continued into the early hours of Thursday in Zimbabwe’s crucial general election, which is the second since the exit of longtime ruler Robert Mugabe in a 2017 coup.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa issued a proclamation on Wednesday evening to permit voting to continue into a second day after delays in delivering ballot papers to many polling units.

Ballot counting began at some polling units after voting closed on Wednesday, but in Harare suburbs such as Glen Norah and Kuwadzana, voting had yet to begin as at 7pm (17:00 GMT), which was when the polls were meant to have officially closed, as voting is expected to occur on Thursday in several towns and rural areas in the eastern province of Manicaland.

Many stations in the two biggest cities, Harare and Bulawayo, permitted voting into the early hours of Thursday even as some people left the polling units out of frustration at being unable to vote.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere told reporters the party has had challenges with the release of results from some stations in Harare as officials from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) claimed they were waiting for authorisation to release results.

Mahere, who is also running for a parliamentary seat, appealed for the release of all results from Hiller Road, a polling station in Harare where only 5 of 13 results have been issued.

“We just want the number that was counted to be the number that was read out. We don’t want them to stuff their postal ballot here, we don’t want them to tinker with the numbers, we don’t want them to abuse our polling agents, we just want a free and fair result,” she said.

Access24 reports that Mnangagwa, is seeking a second term in office, as there are 12 candidates running for president, but his main rival is Nelson Chamisa,  of the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC).