Following three years of army rule, Chad casts a ballot in the general election.

With the opposition calling for a boycott, attendance was predicted to be low for Sunday’s general election, which the government believes is a crucial step in eliminating military rule.

According to the elections administration organisation ANGE, midday numbers indicated a turnout of only 38% to elect a new parliament, regional assemblies, and local councils.

Voter disinterest was attributed to the “cold weather” by election officials in the affluent neighbourhood where the president’s family and ruling dignitaries reside.

They “have all stayed at home following our call, that is, the overwhelming majority,” Succes Masra, leader of the opposition Transformers party, told AFP, urging Chad’s eight million voters to boycott the poll, which they claim had been chosen beforehand.

Contenders supporting President Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who was ushered into office by the military in 2021 and then validated in a May presidential election that opposition contenders criticised as rigged, will have an advantage over the boycott.

Masra said on Saturday that, “The fabricated results are already in the computers.”

Deby made a post on Facebook, alongside photos of himself casting his ballot on what he called a “historic day” saying, “I urge all my compatriots on the electoral roll to come out and vote en masse,”

Due to a lack of employment opportunities, 28-year-old Herve Natouingan, a former construction worker who now drives a motorbike taxi, claimed that voting was “pointless” because “there’s no real voting in Chad.”

A 39-year-old jobless man named Patrice Lumumba Deoumoundou told AFP that he had cast his ballot on Sunday morning in the hopes of “change across the board”—more jobs, lower price increases, “more justice,” and “more equality.” “So far, nothing has been done,” he stated.

For logistical considerations, troops, police officers, and nomads cast ballots on Saturday, just like in past elections.

There was a “record” turnout, according to Chad’s election management bureau, with almost 72% of the army and 54% of nomads participating. “These elections have a lot on the local level at stake,” it stated.

Sheikh Djibrine Hassabakarim, one of the community’s representatives, stated that the nomads had come to request better living circumstances from the candidates who will be elected tomorrow.

According to him, his community has been negatively impacted by climate change, which has killed cattle, led to conflicts with sedentary farmers, and made it difficult for them to provide for their families.

About 100 international election observers and political party members are keeping an eye on the polling places, which will be open until 6:00 p.m. (1700 GMT).

The opposition Democratic Party of the Chadian People (PDPT) reported on Saturday night that over a thousand votes meant for the Bongor sub-prefecture had vanished.

In order to “thwart the fraud networks,” which it claimed had been established by the ruling MPS party, it asked for “vigilance.”

Voting is happening amid claims that Chad is meddling in the turmoil raging in neighbouring Sudan, the conclusion of a military agreement with erstwhile colonial master France, and frequent attacks by the Islamist group Boko Haram in the Lake Chad region.

The elections have been portrayed by the government as the last phase of the democratic transition. After his father, who had governed the Sahel nation for thirty years, passed away in 2021, Deby assumed leadership.