In pictures: Election day in Tanzania & Zanzibar

ELECTIONS WATCH

In the lead up to election day, Tanzanian opposition presidential candidate Tundu Lissu slammed "widespread irregularities" in an election which comes after years of repression under President John Magufuli, who is seeking a second term in office.

Long deemed a haven of stability in East Africa, observers say Tanzania has seen the stifling of democracy and a crackdown on freedom of speech under the 60-year-old Magufuli and his Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has been in power since 1961.

Observers expressed serious concerns about the fairness of the election in the run up to voting day, and violence erupted in semi-autonomous Zanzibar on the eve of the poll, leaving 10 dead according to the opposition.

Meanwhile, in Zanzibar hundreds of men and women formed separate queues from before dawn in Garagara neighbourhood outside the capital Stone Town, where on Tuesday police fired teargas, live rounds and beat up civilians.

Zanzibar citizens are voting for their own president and lawmakers, as well as for the Tanzanian president, and the opposition has accused the ruling party of trying to steal the vote -- an accusation it makes at every election. Foreign observers have often agreed.

Take a look at what is happening on the mainland (Tanzania) and on the island (Zanzibar):

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People queue at Garagara Playground polling station in Mtoni, Zanzibar.

Below, a Tanzanian police officer checks a man's ID at the same polling station in Mtoni.

Still at Garagara Playground polling station, a Tanzanian electoral official checks voters names on the voter's list.

This Tanzanian electoral official calls out names of voters.

People queue at Mtupepo Primary School polling station in Mtoni, Zanzibar.

At Wazo Hill polling station in Dar es Salaam, voters forme queues in the morning as they waited for the voting to open.

A elderly man sits on the ground alongside an early morning queue of other voters outside Wazo Hill polling station as he waits to cast his ballot.

An elderly voter casts her ballot at Wazo Hill polling station.

Here, voters check the voter's roll at a polling station in Stone Town, Zanzibar.

Another voter checks the voter's roll at the same polling station.

Seif Sharif Hamad, the leader of the opposition party The Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT), cast his ballots at Garagara Playground polling station in Mtoni, Zanzibar.

TANZANIA DECIDES