About 6.7 million people were registered to vote and Lungu’s left-leaning PF faced a tough challenge from pro-business Hichilema’s UPND.
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The lead-up to the election was characterized by allegations and counter-allegations of violence and intimidation from the ruling party and opposition, yet electoral officials and police said the vote itself was peaceful.
These elections are unique because, for the first time, a candidate must win more than 50 percent of the vote or have to proceed with a runoff election.
A tight result in the poll is widely expected and could fuel violence.
The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) said that the ECZ was trying to manipulate the results in favour of Lungu’s Patriotic Front (PF) by giving someone unauthorised access to ECZ computers.
Earlier Friday, there was a moment of tension at the results center in Lusaka when the UPND opposition party alleged that servers belonging to the commission had been compromised by an unauthorized person.
Lungu narrowly won a vote 20 months ago to fill the vacancy created by the death of president Michael Sata.
According to the Zambian Elections Information Centre (ZEIC), at least three people have been killed and many injured during campaigning. “The results that will come here are what the voters have decided (who) to be president”, he said.
Constitutional changes now require the victor to have more than 50% of the vote, and a re-run would be called if there is no clear majority. Campaigning was suspended for 10 days last month in the capital, Lusaka, after a supporter of Hichilema’s party was shot dead amid a protest over police canceling a political rally.
But the skirmishes continued, including fighting in the streets near Hichilema’s final election rally. “I do not see any challenger in this election”, Lungu said when the interviewer asked him about his opponents.
Zambia, in contrast to some of its neighbours such as Angola and Zimbabwe, has escaped war and serious upheaval since independence from Britain in 1964.
Zambia is Africa’s second-biggest copper producer but its economy has been hit by falling world demand for the commodity, primarily due to a slowdown in China.
Sata died of an undisclosed illness in 2014 and the 2015 election gave Lungu, 59, the right to finish Sata’s term.
“I will be back home waiting for the results to be announced peacefully”.
Inked and counted: A young man at Chawama Primary School has his thumb marked to indicate he has voted.
“Both parties have approached the election as a “do-or-die” affair”, said Dimpho Motsamai, of the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.
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“Violence can not and should not be the currency of politics”, Lungu said in an address on state television late Wednesday. A referendum is also on the ballot for amendments to the constitution; Zambians will vote on whether all citizens are to be guaranteed the right to food, shelter, employment and health care; and whether homosexuality and abortion are to be regarded as crimes.
