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Rwandans vote overwhelmingly to lift Kagame’s term limits

Rwandans in Nairobi, Kenya, line up to vote at the Rwandan Embassy, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in a referendum to decide whether to extend President Paul Kagame’s term in office, in Rwanda. (AP Photo)
Rwandans in Nairobi, Kenya, line up to vote at the Rwandan Embassy, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in a referendum to decide whether to extend President Paul Kagame’s term in office, in Rwanda. (AP Photo) Rwandans in Nairobi, Kenya, line up to vote at the Rwandan Embassy, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015, in a referendum to decide whether to extend President Paul Kagame’s term in office, in Rwanda. (AP Photo)

By Associated Press 3 min read

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) – Rwandans have voted overwhelmingly to lift constitutional restrictions to allow President Paul Kagame to run for more terms in office, said the head of Rwanda’s electoral commission as he released provisional results Saturday.

More than 98 percent of voters in 30 districts voted to lift term limits for Kagame, Mbanda Kalisa said.

“The final results will be released on Monday but this will not change much,” Kalisa told journalists in Kigali. He said Rwandans who voted to maintain term limits were 1.7 percent.

More than 6 million registered voters participated in the exercise, representing a voter turnout of 98.28 percent, he said. “(The)voting process was peaceful,” Kalisa said.

The provisional results surpass predictions by pollsters that 92 percent of Rwandans would support amending the constitution to remove the term limits.