Zimbabwe election: Robert Mugabe faces Morgan Tsvangirai
People have been forming long queues at one polling station in Harare, as Nomsa Maseko reports.
Long queues have formed at polling stations in Zimbabwe as people vote in fiercely contested elections which have already been hit by fraud allegations.
President Robert Mugabe, 89, has said he will step down after 33 years in power if he and his Zanu-PF party lose.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) have accused Zanu-PF of doctoring the electoral roll, a charge it has denied.
Campaigning for the presidential and parliamentary poll was mostly peaceful.
Zanu-PF and the MDC have shared an uneasy coalition government since 2009 under a deal brokered to end the deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year.
'Determined to vote'
The BBC's Nomsa Maseko asks Robert Mugabe if he would step down if he lost
Mr Mugabe dismissed the MDC's allegations of vote-rigging as "politicking" as he voted in the capital Harare's Highfield township, AFP news agency reports.
"They want to find a way out," Mr Mugabe said.
"I am sure people will vote freely and fairly, there is no pressure being exerted on anyone."
Mr Tsvangirai described casting his ballot as an emotional moment "after all the conflict, the stalemate, the suspicion, the hostility".
"This is a very historic moment for us," he is quoted by AFP as saying.
Mr Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round of the 2008 poll, but pulled out of the run-off with Mr Mugabe because of attacks on his supporters.
The government has barred Western observers from monitoring Wednesday's elections, but the African Union (AU) and the Southern African Development Community (Sadc), as well as local organisations, have been accredited.
Polls opened at 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT) and are due to close at 17:00 GMT.
The turnout is expected to be high among the 6.4 million people registered to vote, with tens of thousands attending rallies in recent weeks. Results are expected within five days.
Zimbabwe election: Key facts
- About 6.4 million registered voters
- Polls open at 05:00 GMT and close at 17:00 GMT
- Vote for president and parliament
- Zanu-PF's Robert Mugabe and MDC's Morgan Tsvangirai are the main presidential contenders
- Mr Mugabe, 89, is seeking to extend his 33-year rule
- Mr Tsvangirai, 61, hopes to become president after three failed attempts
- The poll ends the fractious coalition between Zanu-PF and MDC, which was brokered by regional mediators after disputed elections in 2008 that were marred by violence
- First election under new constitution
Wednesday has been declared a national holiday to ensure people can vote. Despite this, voters queued for several hours outside polling stations across the country before they opened, reports the BBC's Nomsa Maseko in Harare.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network, the main domestic monitoring agency, said the vote appeared to be taking place without too many problems, Reuters news agency reports.
"There are some concerns around long queues, but generally, it's smooth," said its spokesman Thabani Nyoni.
"I got up at four but still couldn't get the first position in the line," Clifford Chasakara, a voter in the western province of Manicaland, told the Reuters.
"My fingers are numb, but I'm sure I can mark the ballot all the same. I'm determined to vote and have my vote counted."
Mr Tsvangirai, who voted in Harare's middle class suburb of Mt. Pleasant, said there was a sense that "finally Zimbabwe will be able to move on again", AFP reports.
His party will win "quite resoundingly, I must say", he added.
At a news conference at State House on Tuesday, Mr Mugabe was asked if he and Zanu-PF would accept defeat.
"If you go into a process and join a competition where there are only two outcomes, win or lose, you can't be both. You either win or lose. If you lose, you must surrender," he said.
But Mr Tsvangirai dismissed the president's remarks.
"He does not believe in the right of the people to choose. He does not believe he can be voted out of office," he told the BBC.
The 61-year-old has vowed to push Mr Mugabe into retirement; it is his third attempt to unseat him.
An MDC spokesman said separately that the party was only prepared to accept the results of the elections if they were "free and fair".
'Anomalies'On Tuesday, the MDC accused Zanu-PF of doctoring the roll of registered voters, which was released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) only on the eve of the polls after weeks of delay.
Continue reading the main story
Zimbabweans are voting in fiercely contested presidential and parliamentary elections. These voters queued up in the capital, Harare, before polls opened. It is winter in Zimbabwe, so the mornings are chilly 
Before polls opened there were already allegations of fraud over the voters' roll which was only published on the eve of the elections. The document features the names of thousands of dead people. Some names also appear twice or three times with variations to their ID numbers or home address. 
Zanu-PF's Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change's Morgan Tsvangirai are the main contenders in the presidential poll. Mr Tsvangirai's supporters are hoping it will be third time lucky for him. 
Zanu-PF and the MDC have shared an uneasy coalition government since 2009 under a deal brokered to end the deadly violence that erupted after a disputed presidential poll the previous year. Mr Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round, but pulled out of the run-off because of attacks on his supporters. 
Mr Mugabe, who has led Zimbabwe for 33 years, has said he will step down if defeated. His wife Grace (R) has played a prominent part in his campaign. Campaigning was mostly peaceful, with few reports of intimidation. 
But there have been reports of some violence, especially in Mashonaland West, a Zanu-PF stronghold. The house of 65-year-old Monica Chivera, from Hurungwe, was set ablaze on Friday in an incident suspected to be politically motivated arson. ''We were force-marched to a Zanu-PF meeting but I did not do a slogan denouncing Tsvangirai. I escaped with my five children but I lost virtually everything,'' the widow said. 
In the same region on the same day a young family's thatched hut was also set ablaze by an unknown arsonist. ''I lost everything,'' said 18-year-old expectant mother Chipo Matemo whose husband Daniel Bhobho is a Zanu-PF activist. Police said the incident was being investigated. 
Some had hoped for the election to be held later in the year so there would be more time to prepare but the Constitutional Court ruled it must be held by 31 July. Zanu-PF has been campaigning on a platform of indigenisation and economic empowerment. At its campaign launch in Harare, a spelling mistake was noticed on the main banner. After an hour a sticker was put over the word "indegenise". 
The turnout is expected to be high among the 6.4 million people registered to vote, with tens of thousands of people attending rallies in recent weeks. 
To be declared the victor, a presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate reaches this mark, a run-off will be held on 11 September. The MDC claimed the roll dated back to 1985 and was full of anomalies.
A BBC correspondent has seen the document and says it features the names of thousands of dead people. He says many names with the same address appear two or three times.
A Zanu-PF spokesman denied the allegations and pointed out that appointees from both parties were on Zec. He also accused Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a member of the MDC, of not funding the commission properly. Zec has not commented.
In addition to Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai, there are three other candidates standing for the presidency - Welshman Ncube, leader of the breakaway MDC-Mutambara; Dumiso Dabengwa of the Zimbabwe African People's Union (Zapu), and Kisinoti Munodei Mukwazhe, who represents the small Zimbabwe Development Party (ZDP).
To be declared a winner, a presidential candidate must win more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate reaches this mark, a run-off will be held on 11 September.
The elections will be the first to be held under the new constitution approved in a referendum in March this year.
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