Polls opened in Zimbabwe on Wednesday and were due to close at 1700 GMT s President Emmerson Mnangagwa seeks a second and final term.
Some 6.6 million people are registered to vote in the nation of about 15 million.
At Sherwood Primary School in the city of Kwekwe, where Mnangagwa is registered to vote and will cast his ballot later, dozens of voters lined up from 6am local time and chatted in hushed tones waiting for voting to start.
Communal farmer Beatrice Sibanda, 65, said: “I want a better life for my children. They need jobs. I hope that after voting life will become better.”
In the capital Harare, in the Kuwadzana constituency where the main opposition candidate Nelson Chamisa will vote, people also said they were hungry for change.
“We are struggling and hungry. I have five grand-children that I am taking care of. I’m fortunate that I own a house and can shelter them as their fathers don’t work,” said Mabel Fambi, a 67-year-old grandmother.
Vote-counting will start as soon as polling stations close, and parliamentary results are expected to trickle in over the course of Thursday morning. The presidential result is expected to come later, though well ahead of a five-day deadline.
To win the presidency, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote. If there is no outright winner, a run-off between the top two candidates will be held on Oct. 2.
Parliamentary and local council candidates only need a simple majority of votes cast.