UGANDA: "Vote early, vote once," could be the motto of Baryamureeba George. He arrived at Rukungiri polling station - in reality a roped-off corner of the town football pitch - at a run.
The grass was still wet with dew as he took his place in the queue of early-morning voters to wait his turn.
"It was important to vote early," said Baryamureeba (50), who works as a carpenter.
"Formerly there was a habit of trying to fill the boxes before we voted. Sometimes people would find that their name had already been used by someone else several times over.
"That is why you saw me running to get here for the start."
Millions of Ugandans went to the polls yesterday in the country's first multiparty elections in 26 years. The two-man race between a president and his former physician was filled with intrigue and tension, which, at times, spilled over into violence.
It was marred first by the decision of 62-year-old President Yoweri Museveni to change Uganda's constitution and stand for a third term. Then, last November, the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, was arrested after returning from exile in South Africa.
His detention on what many believe were trumped-up rape and treason charges sparked riots in Kampala and there are fears that Uganda could see further violence if evidence of ballot-rigging emerges.
Yesterday election monitors said voting had passed off peacefully despite some isolated problems - such as confusion over who could vote where - and rain storms that played havoc with outdoor polling stations.
Max van den Berg, the European Union's chief monitor, said: "Overall the process up to today was rather unfair in the sense that the ruling party had a lot more power and funding.
"But today, in most places, it was a free and transparent process with voters able to make their own choices."
Initial indications suggest a high turnout with people queuing long after polling was due to end.
Extra precautions against rigging were in evidence at Rukungiri, one of the potential trouble-spots. This dusty town in the far southwest of Uganda is the home of Besigye but it is surrounded by towns and villages that vote Museveni.
The area's thick banana groves were the scene of some of the worst violence in the 2001 presidential contest when Museveni beat his former comrade-in-arms.
That was conducted under the old rules, with Besigye standing as an independent. This time he was able to stand as the head of a party, the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
Yesterday voters' photographs were listed alongside their names on the electoral roll. They were also asked to remove coats and hats to prevent extra ballot papers being smuggled into the open-air polling station. However, that did not prevent problems.
Besigye registered a protest as he voted, complaining that new transparent ballot boxes had not been properly secured.
"Why wasn't it sealed before voting began?" he asked, waving its lid in the air in front of his noisy supporters.
Similar complaints were voiced around the country, said FDC officials. They accused Museveni's National Resistance Movement of distributing salt, blankets and clothes to villagers in the hope of winning their votes.
"We are going to be discussing how to respond to this and will take a decision shortly," said Besigye, before being whisked away by his burly bodyguards.
Most of those casting their vote said they were supporting Besigye's campaign slogan of "time for a change".
"We like this man," said the owner of a local tearoom. "Museveni did well for 10 years but then he went bad." Western donors agree. Ireland was one of several European countries to withhold aid last year in protest at the arrest of Besigye.
They have also expressed unease at evidence that Museveni, once the darling of the West for promising increased democracy, had adopted a more authoritarian style.
The most recent opinion polls suggest his challenger has run the president close, but could still fail to force a second round of voting.
Analysts believe that Saturday, when results are due, represents the most likely flashpoint.
"If Museveni wins narrowly - and I think he probably will, although an upset is not impossible - and there is a feeling that he won fairly, then I think that his opponents will feel disappointment, but that will be it," said Frederick Golooba Mutebi, a columnist with the independent Sunday Monitor newspaper.
"But if Museveni wins by a large margin or if there is evidence of rigged ballots, then anything can happen. Besigye's supporters may well take to the streets."