Logistical issues meant that thousands of Namibians were still waiting to vote in pivotal presidential and legislative elections late on Wednesday as the polling stations were scheduled to close.
The vote could usher in the desert nation's first woman leader even as her party, the ruling South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) faces the strongest challenge yet to its 34-year grip on power.
Some voters told AFP they queued all day, for up to 12 hours, blaming technical problems which included issues with voter identification tablets or insufficient ballot papers.
According to Namibia's electoral law, those in the queue before the polls closed – scheduled at 9:00 pm (1900 GMT) – should be allowed to vote.
'Deliberately trying to frustrate voters'
"We have the obligation to make sure that they pass their vote," said Petrus Shaama, chief officer of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN).
The main opposition party, the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) has blamed the ECN for the long lines and cried foul play.
"We have reason to believe that the ECN is deliberately suppressing voters and deliberately trying to frustrate voters from casting their vote," said Christine Aochamus of the IPC.
She said the party had "started the process" of approaching a court "to order the ECN to extend the voting time."
'Come out in numbers'
At one polling station inside Namibia's University of Science and Technology in the capital Windhoek, hundreds of people were still in line at 09:00 pm despite some having arrived at 6:00 am, an hour before polls opened.
It was a similar situation at the Museum of Independence, according to an AFP reporter, where one voter said he arrived 12 hours earlier and was still in line with hundreds of others.
SWAPO's candidate and current vice president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, was one of the first to vote and called on Namibians "to come out in their numbers".
An estimated 1.5 million people in the sparsely populated nation had registered to cast their ballot.
'New dawn'
SWAPO has governed since leading mineral-rich Namibia to independence from South Africa in 1990 but complaints about unemployment and enduring inequalities could force Nandi-Ndaitwah into an unprecedented second round.
Leader of the IPC, Panduleni Itula, a former dentist and lawyer said he was optimistic he could "unseat the revolutionary movement."
"We will all march from there and to a new dawn and a new era of how we conduct our public affairs in this country," the 67-year-old told reporters after voting.
Itula took 29% of votes in the 2019 elections, losing to SWAPO leader Hage Geingob with 56%. It was a remarkable performance considering Geingob, who died in February, had won almost 87% five years before that.
Mining
Namibia is a major uranium and diamond exporter but not many of its nearly three million people have benefitted from that wealth.
"There's a lot of mining activity that goes on in the country, but it doesn't really translate into improved infrastructure, job opportunities," said independent political analyst Marisa Lourenco, based in Johannesburg.
"That's where a lot of the frustration is coming from, (especially) the youth," she said.
Unemployment among 15- to 34-year-olds is estimated at 46%, according to the latest figures from 2018, almost triple the national average.
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