Bulawayo voting going at a snail's pace

A politician in the Zimbabwean opposition stronghold of Bulawayo says there are numerous reports of "voting going at a snail's pace."

David Coltart, a supporter of opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, says he hopes election observers will pay special attention to the pace of voting "as it is a means of suppressing the urban vote."

Coltart says on Twitter that Zimbabwe's electoral commission deliberately slowed voting in urban areas in the 2002 election to undermine the opposition, which traditionally has strong support in major cities. Past elections have been marred by irregularities.

But Zimbabwe's electoral commission says this election - the first without longtime leader Robert Mugabe - will be free and fair.