HARARE, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe presidential run-off poll closed peacefully on Friday evening with massive voter turnout recorded in most parts of the country, The Herald reported on Saturday.

    The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission started counting the votes when polling closed, and said results would be released as they come. "We will announce the results as they come at constituency level and we hope to start tomorrow (Saturday)," ZEC deputy chief elections officer (operations) Utloile Silaigwana said.

    Police confirmed that peace and tranquility prevailed throughout the country with chief spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena urging the electorate to remain calm.

    "We did not get any negative reports and the situation was calm," Bvudzijena said. He, however, urged the voters to return home after casting their ballots and wait for the announcement of the results by ZEC.

    In Harare South constituency, hundreds of voters had by 5 a.m. local time on Friday queued at various polling stations, with the biggest number at Ushewokunze Housing Co-operative where more than550 people were waiting to cast their votes around mid-day.

    Some of the voters who had been queuing for long hours said ZEC should have put more polling stations at Ushewokunze to speed up the process, according to New.

    At Gazaland Technology Centre, Shirichena Primary School, Western Triangle Bus Terminus and Canaan Bus Terminus in Highfield, long queues had formed as early as 7 a.m. local time.

    The situation was the same at Zuva Rabuda Primary School in Glen Norah and in Mbare's Number Five and Seven grounds, where a heavy presence of police officers was evident.

    Voting started peacefully but on a slow note in Kambuzuma, Warren Park, Kuwadzana and Norton with scores of people trickling in throughout the day.

    At Kuwadzana Community Center, a queue of about 30 meters had formed by mid-afternoon while in Norton a large number of people voted in the morning.

    The presiding officer at Nyamunda polling station in Katanga said they were busy in the morning as a large number of people turned up to vote but the number decreased as the day progressed.

    In Kuwadzana, Warren Park and Kambuzuma, few voters trickled in to cast their ballots by the close of polling station at 7 p.m. local time.

    Voters in Goromonzi North, South and West had as early as 7 a.m. local time formed long queues which could still be seen at mid-day.

    The biggest turnout was at Chinamhora Hall in Goromonzi West where about 400 voters had cast their ballots by noon.

    A small number was turned away at Arcturus, Goromonzi and Ruwa as well as at Groombridge and Hellenic primary schools in Harare East for lack of proper documentation or because they were aliens.

    Some of those turned away had brought drivers' licenses or photocopies of national identity cards that were not recognized in the presidential run-off.

    Others were turned away after it emerged they had already cast their votes through postal ballot or did not appear on the voters' roll.

    In Mt Pleasant and Harare East, voters had queued as early as 6.30 a.m. local time.

    In Seke and Chitungwiza, most polling stations had received more than 100 voters by 10.00 a.m. local time in a peaceful atmosphere. A ZEC official at St Eden's Primary School polling station in Chitungwiza described the process as slow in comparison to the March 29 election where people had queued as early as 2 a.m. local time.

    By end of day, more than 470 people had cast their votes at Chigunguru makeshift polling station in Zengeza West compared to about 3,000 in the March poll.

    In Wedza, where turnout was low, groups of villagers were seen at polling stations waiting patiently to cast their votes as the process progressed smoothly.

    However, some villagers who had traveled all the way from Harare to cast their votes failed to do so when their names were not found on the voters' roll.

    The voter turnout in Bindura in northern Zimbabwe was described by presiding officers as "just slightly lower than that recorded in the March harmonized elections" while others said there was no difference. More than 200 people braved the cold weather in Marondera in eastern Zimbabwe to cast their ballots at Dombotombo Hall polling station where they had queued as early 6 a.m. local time.

    A team of SADC observers kept a presence in Marondera Central constituency that had 30 polling stations.

    By noon, officials said 700 people had cast their votes at three polling stations while 176 had been turned away because they did not have the required documents.

    Zimbabwe held the presidential run-off election on Friday as scheduled despite opposition MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's withdrawal from the race.

    Tsvangirai, who had been expected to pit against ruling ZANU-PF candidate and incumbent President Robert Mugabe in the run-off, withdrew from the election on Sunday, citing various reasons, including political violence. Tsvangirai on Tuesday submitted a withdrawal letter to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, formally quitting from the race.

    The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the withdrawal was of no legal effect because it was filed too late.

    Tsvangirai received 47.9 percent of the votes in the first round of election held on March 29, followed by President Robert Mugabe's 43.2 percent.

    An outright winner needs to obtain an absolute majority of the votes, otherwise a run-off needs to be held, according to Zimbabwe's law.

    Tsvangirai, who in 1999 founded the Movement for Democratic Changes (MDC), is taking refuge in the Dutch embassy, saying he feared for his safety.

    Incumbent President Mugabe, 84, who has been the head of state since the southern African country gained independence in 1980, accused Tsvangirai of being a puppet used by Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler Britain and its allies, who Mugabe said are angered by Zimbabwe's land reform program..

    The run-off was held as Zimbabwe is facing serious economic challenges including a 2 million percent inflation and shortage of basic goods including bread.

    Western powers and some African countries have expressed concern and urged Zimbabwe to postpone the run-off.

    The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) Chairperson Justice George Chiweshe assured that the election will be free and fair.

    "You never have an election that is 100 percent perfect and I believe we can hold a free and fair election," said the chairman.

    Observers from many countries and organizations, including the African Union and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) monitored the election. SADC alone had more than 400 election observers in the country.