Around 40 million Ethiopians cast ballots in the country’s seventh general election on Monday, National Election Board Chairperson Melatwork Hailu said, adding that the figure had been reached by 8 p.m. local time. She said there were some areas where information could not be gathered due to internet and telephone connectivity problems.

Earlier in the day, Melatwork said voting could not take place at 143 polling stations due to security-related problems.

She said voting eventually went ahead at 15 polling stations in the Kutaber constituency in the Amhara region after initial disruptions linked to security concerns, although four polling stations in the same constituency did not hold voting.

She also said polling did not take place in Mekosachi and Qersa constituencies due to a deteriorating security situation. Bilonopa polling station was cited by the election board as one of the localities where voting was disrupted, with the chairperson saying that voting in the area would take place the following day, on Tuesday.

In one of the gross irregularities, election officials at the Burji polling station were found marking ballot papers themselves while casting votes, prompting the National Election Board to order the station’s closure, she said, adding that measures against those officials would be announced soon.