Voting in Bahati constituency and Chilyapa Ward of Mansa Central constituency has started at a slow pace due to the rains.

Provincial electoral officer Amusa Zaza described the voting pattern for the parliamentary and ward by-elections in Bahati and Mansa Central constituency as slow, but peaceful.

In an interview, Thursday morning at Senama Council Rest House polling station, Zaza said due to the wet weather being experienced in the district, the influx of the voters was slow.

“We have experienced wet weather in Mansa in Bahati constituency, generally, but that did not necessarily affect the opening of the polling stations, the only thing that we have seen is that the influx of the voters has been, generally, a bit slow”, Zaza noted.

He, however, said that the number of voters were expected to increase as the rains reduced.

Zaza noted that all polling stations had managed to open at 06:00hrs despite the rains and are expected to close on Thursday evening at 18:00hrs.

“The polling station here at Senama Rest House opened on time and the reports that we have from other polling stations actually managed to open on time”, he said.

But Zaza added that lost time would be compensated to polling stations that may have not opened on time.

“But in an event that there is one polling station or polling stations that may have delayed in opening, that time is going to be compensated towards the closing of the poll”, said Zaza.

Bahati constituency has 9 wards with 55 polling stations and a total number of 43,000 registered voters.