CHAOS in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s elections means that the outcome will not reflect the “will of the people,” the opposition said today.

The warning came after voting in the presidential, parliamentary and provincial elections was extended for a further day because major logistical and security problems had led to millions of people being unable to cast a ballot.

Polling stations that did not open on Wednesday would operate today, electoral commission chairman Denis Kadima said on local radio.

“When you wake up in the morning, you’re hoping for good things, good work, and I want security,” voter Raymond Yuma said as he and three others waited for a polling station to open in the capital Kinshasa.

Three hours after voting officially began, over 31 per cent of polling stations in the country’s main cities and towns had yet to open and voting machines were faulty at 45 per cent, according to Bishop Donatien Nshole, spokesman for the National Episcopal Conference of Congo and the Church of Christ in Congo observer mission.

Opposition candidate and Nobel peace prize winner Denis Mukwege criticised the extension, saying that “the results of such a chaotic vote will not reflect the will of the people.”

Allegations of fraud emerged in parts of the northern province of Equator, where more than 7,000 ballots were reportedly marked illegally before voting began.

Some 44 million people, almost half the population, were expected to vote, but many, including several million displaced by conflict in the vast country’s east, were not able to take part in the election. 

The fighting prevented 1.5 million people from even registering to vote.

At stake is the future of one of Africa’s largest nations, whose mineral resources are increasingly crucial to the global economy. 

President Felix Tshisekedi was seeking his second and final five-year term, standing against 26 challengers.

His main rival appeared to be millionaire businessman Moise Katumbi, a former governor of Katanga province.