#SOMALILANDVOTES: Thousands turn up as polls open

Voters queuing in Gacan Libax polling centre in Hargeisa shortly after polls opened at 7am. Photo: Khaalid Foodhaadhi|Goobjoog News

Thousands of voters in Somaliland are heading to the polls this morning to elect a new president with all elections expected take place in all the 1642 polling centres in the six regions including Sool and Sanaag which Puntland has vowed to stop any electoral process.

Queues started forming immediately after 7am when the polling centres opened. Goobjoog News correspondent Hargeisa Khaalid Foodhadi said all the 535 centres in the capital Hargeisa had opened.

In Gacan Libax polling station in Hargeisa, lines started forming immediately the polls opened and similar exercises could be seen in several other centres.

A total of 704, 089 voters out of the 873,331 eligible voters will be taking part in the exercise which is expected to end the two year delay for the presidential poll. The exercise was set for 2015 but was severally delayed.