Kagame has won more than 93% of the vote at each of the three previous elections. Eight candidates had applied to run against him, but only two were retained in the final list validated by the electoral commission. The others, including Kagame’s most vocal critics, were barred for various reasons that included prior criminal convictions. At the Rwandexco polling center in the capital Kigali, people started queueing 90 minutes before polls opened. Kagame won nearly 99% of the vote in the 2017 poll, which followed a constitutional change removing term limits that would have prevented him from standing again.

---

Persons: Paul Kagame, Kagame, Pheneas, “, ” Pheneas, ” Kagame, Frank Habineza, Philippe Mpayimana, Karangwa Vedaste, ” Vedaste Organizations: Rwanda Reuters — Voters, Motorcycle Locations: Kigali, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo