Voting extends into second day in Zimbabwe after multiple delays

A woman waits outside a polling station in Harare on August 23 2023, on the first day of Zimbabwe's general election, which extended into a second day after deliveries of ballots were delayed as some polling stations (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP)

Bulawayo, Zimbabwe – Voting continued into the early hours of Thursday in Zimbabwe’s crucial general election, 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.