When polls opened opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai told voters that they should not only vote, but vote for Mr. Mugabe if it was the only thing they could do to protect themselves from harm.
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change has been warning that voters have been told that if they fail to vote and, in many cases, vote for Mr. Mugabe, they will be subjected to violence.
One voter from Chinhoyi, the capital of Mr. Mugabe's home province Mashonaland West, told VOA people in the province have been taken night after night to so-called reeducation camps run by Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party. There they were beaten and threatened and told they will be in extreme trouble if they do not vote for Mr. Mugabe.
In the March election, voters in Mashonaland West - for the first time since Mr. Mugabe came to power - switched their votes for candidates from other parties.
A vegetable vendor in a working class suburb southwest of Harare said she had been forced to vote. Because, she said, ZANU-PF youth told her two days ago if she didn't she would lose her trading license.
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