[PRESSTV] Burundians voted Thursday in a referendum on constitutional reforms that, if passed, will shore up the power of President Pierre Nkurunziza and enable him to rule until 2034.
Police, soldiers and armored vehicles were out in force for the referendum, which comes three years after Nkurunziza sought a controversial third term, triggering a political crisis that has killed 1,200 and forced 400,000 from their homes.
"Long lines have been seen at the opening of polling stations in Bujumbura. Burundian citizens were impatient to go and vote," presidential front man Willy Nyamitwe wrote on Twitter.
An AFP photographer also reported hundreds of people at polling stations in northern Burundi, asked simply to vote "yes" or "no" in the "referendum of May 2018" with no question posed on the ballot.
"I came at dawn because I was impatient to vote 'yes' to consolidate the independence and illusory sovereignty of our country," said a farmer, who gave his name only as Miburo, in the town of Ngozi.
Nkurunziza, dressed in an Adidas tracksuit and orange bush hat with a chin strap, queued from 6:00 am (0400 GMT) to cast his ballot, praising people for turning out "en masse".
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