Pretoria - The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) this morning takes to the polls for the country's presidential and legislative elections.
Over 32 million people have been registered to vote in more than 63 000 polling stations under the supervision of several international observers.
Eleven candidates, including the incumbent Joseph Kabila, are contending in the presidential election, whose provisional results are expected to be announced on 6 December.
However, the pre-elections have been marred by violence. Last Saturday, at least two people were killed in the pre-election campaign.
Unlike in 2006, when the president of the DRC was elected with majority vote through direct universal suffrage in two rounds for a five-year term, this year, the president will be elected in one round as the constitution has been amended.
The candidate who collects the majority of votes will be declared the winner.
The election, which is supposed to end at 5pm local time on Monday, is the second democratic presidential election since the country attained its independence in 1960.
Meanwhile, the Egyptians are also taking to the polls in the first phase of the People's Assembly, the lower house of the Parliament, since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February.
The voting started at 8am (0600GMT) in Cairo, Alexandria, Fayoum, Port Said, Damietta, Kafr El-Sheikh, Assiut, Luxor and the Red Sea -- nine out of the 27 governorates in Egypt.
Voters lined up outside poll stations in Cairo in a peaceful manner. The vote will last two days in order to achieve a high turnout.
Hussein Tantawi, head of the ruling military council, on Sunday called on citizens to cast their votes.
The 508-seat People's Assembly polls are held over three stages, each with a run-off one week after the vote. The second stage starts on 14 December and the third stage on 3 January. The final results are expected to be announced by 13 January.
