Togo has been ruled by the same family for the past 43 years and has never had a vote that was considered free or fair. Opposition supporters are vowing to take to the streets in massive protests if the ruling family tries to steal this election. An angry mob on Friday crowded outside the headquarters where opposition leader Jean-Pierre Fabre was speaking, chanting: "Change or death."
"Togo will burn," said opposition supporter Charlotte Lelatou, 57. "We're tired. We want a change."
The race is between six opposition candidates and President Faure Gnassingbe, the son of the country's former dictator.
The military seized control of the country and imposed the 43-year-old as president immediately after the death of his father on Feb. 5, 2005. Gnassingbe went on to run in 2005 elections that were widely viewed as fraudulent and where the military systematically stole ballot boxes from polling stations.
Fabre told reporters early results indicate his party has a "comfortable lead," and said he is ahead by 75 to 80 percent in some districts and expects to win with at least 60 percent of the vote overall. He charged that the ruling party had committed fraud and that the results being transmitted to the election commission are "fantasy."
Meanwhile, head of the country's Independent Election Commission Issifou Tabiou acknowledged late Friday that the machinery used to relay votes had failed to function properly and said he was calling on the directors of the country's 35 voting districts to travel to the capital with the physical proof of the votes cast in their regions. Commissioners were heading to a meeting early Saturday, as they waited for the provincial voting officials to arrive with the voting papers.
The election commission reached an impasse Thursday after the opposition said they would not accept results that had not been sent by VSAT
- a system using satellite transmission that is backed by the European Union's observation mission because it is believed to be tamperproof.
On the day before the election, a delegation of European parliamentarians met with President Faure Gnassingbe to urge him to accept the satellite-based system, according to a person who was at the meeting and asked not to be named because not authorized to talk to the press. Gnassingbe consented.
