People have voted in Gabon, a country rich in oil in central Africa. The President, Ali Bongo, who became the leader when his father, Omar, passed away in 2009, wants to be elected for a third time. He has 13 opponents running against him.
After the voting ended, the government declared a curfew and stopped internet access due to safety reasons.
On Saturday, the top person running against the President, Albert Ondo Ossa, complained that many voting places didn’t have ballot papers with his name. He said, “Gabon doesn’t only belong to the Bongos,” while he was campaigning.
Mr. Ondo Ossa used to teach economics and was once in charge of education. He became the leader of the Alternance 2023 group just last week.
This group claims that even though some people withdrew from the presidential race, their names are still on the voting papers.
Similar to previous elections, there are worries about how the process is being done.
In the past, opponents said both of Mr. Bongo’s wins were dishonest, and this time, changes to the voting papers were controversially made only a few weeks before the election.
For the first time, voters had to mark a single ballot for both the president and a member of parliament from the same party.
Experts say this makes it hard for independent candidates, especially Mr. Ondo Ossa, who leads the main opposing group but doesn’t have his own party.