Zanzibar - Authorities in Zanzibar say they have registered more than 80 percent of eligible voters to cast ballots in October general elections despite violence that forced several suspensions of the process.
Election officials on the politically volatile semi-autonomous Tanzanian island said late on Thursday that 499 007 out of about 540 000 eligible voters had successfully registered to cast ballots by Tuesday's deadline.
A senior official with the Zanzibar Electoral Commission (Zec), Khamis Ame, offered no reason why the nearly 41 000 remaining eligible voters had not been registered but the island's main opposition party maintains that most of those people are its supporters and has threatened legal action to qualify them.
The Civic United Front (Cuf) says as many as 32 000 of its members were rejected by election officials at the behest of the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM - Revolutionary Party) that it claims is trying to steal the polls.
Ame acknowledged receipt of a broad Cuf complaint and said the Zec would look into the matter to ensure that all eligible voters wishing to cast ballots in the October 30 election are able to.
"We are investigating the allegation, plus claims that there has been double registration and under-age registration," he said in a statement.
"We shall make sure that all people in Zanzibar with qualifications are registered, and cheaters are booked," Ame said.
But Cuf officials were unimpressed by the pledge and said Friday that they were still preparing to take the complaint to court.
"We are finalising our arrangement with a lawyer so that we can go to court to have all legitimate Zanzibaris be registered in the voters' book before the general elections," said Ayoub Bakari, a senior party official.
Clashes between supporters of the two sides resulting in injuries and property damage have become commonplace since in March, with each blaming the other for the outbreaks of violence which are similar to the political violence that erupted on the island in the run-up to 2000 elections.
Nearly 40 people were killed in those clashes, prompting the two sides to agree on a now-apparently ignored accord to limit violence.
This year's violence has prompted police to ban all political rallies and electoral authorities twice suspended the voter registration process to calm the situation.