The Mais Integridade Consortium, made up of seven Mozambican civil society organizations, said yesterday, at the end of the day, shortly before the polls closed, that voting in the local elections was generally proceeding normally, despite delays in the opening of some polling stations.

"In general, voting went normally, except for slowness in some municipalities, such as Beira, in Sofala province, a situation that is causing voter unrest," the consortium said in a note evaluating the process, quoted by Lusa.

These sixth local elections were attended by more than 20,311 national observers and at least 80 international observers from diplomatic missions accredited to Mozambique, as well as more than 866 journalists and 364 candidate delegates, according to official figures.

According to the Mais Integridade consortium, which observed at least 30 of the 65 municipalities, polling stations saw a "good turnout in the early hours", although there were also "significant delays" in opening some polling stations.

Delays in the arrival of material, disorder in the queue and lack of material are among some of the reasons given by the consortium for the delay in opening some polling stations.

"Although the opening process can be considered calm, in the municipality of Nacala-Porto, in Nampula, there were cases of vandalism, with young people throwing stones at voters in the queue," the consortium added, noting that police intervention was necessary.

In the note, the election observers also complained that they were prevented from attending the opening of polling stations in Insaca, in Niassa province, and Nacala-Porto, in Nampula, both in northern Mozambique.

More than 11,500 candidates from 11 political parties, three coalitions of parties and eight citizens' groups are running in the local elections. The CNE has determined 1,486 polling stations and 6,875 polling stations.