ACCRA: Ghanaian authorities fired tear gas yesterday to disperse a crowd of more than 100 people in the capital Accra who were angry over rumors of rigging in the country’s elections.

The crowd of opposition NPP supporters spread bricks and tires in the road and burnt rubbish, prompting security forces to fire tear gas to disperse them, an AFP correspondent reported. Both police and soldiers had deployed.

There did not appear to be any injuries related to the protest and tear gas.

Incumbent John Dramani Mahama of the NDC party is vying for a first elected term against main opposition candidate Nana Akufo-Addo of the NPP.

Privately owned local television Joy News reported that early provisional results showed Mahama with 49.98 percent and Akufo-Addo with 48.53 percent, but the figures were only from 70 of 275 districts and could evolve substantially.

Earlier, exhausted Ghanaians queued up for a second day to cast their ballots in presidential and parliamentary elections after technical hitches forced authorities to extend voting in some areas.

The decision was broadly accepted by Ghanaians who hope the poll will burnish their country’s reputation as a bulwark of democracy and progress in a region better known for civil wars, coups and corruption.

Three decades of peace combined with a recent oil-driven economic boom have made Ghana a darling among international investors who say its growth prospects contrast sharply with the economic woes of Europe and the United States.

About 225 polling stations reopened yesterday for an unexpected second day of voting here after there were technical breakdowns on the first day of voting, Ghana voting officials announced.

Less than 1 percent of Ghana’s 26,002 polling stations experienced problems with the new biometric voter identification system and had to open a second day to allow voters to cast their ballots, said Christian Owusu-Parry, a spokesman of Ghana’s Electoral Commission. Most of those stations are in the capital, Accra, he said.

Some voters waited in line all day Friday and then returned to vote yesterday.

Ghana has had five peaceful and constitutional transfers of power since its last coup in 1981, in stark contrast to the turmoil that surrounds it in the region.

Neighboring Ivory Coast tipped into civil war last year after a disputed 2010 poll and regional neighbors Mali and Guinea-Bissau have both suffered coups this year.

“These elections are important not just to Ghana but for the growing number of states and actors seeking to benefit from increasing confidence in Africa,” said Alex Vines, Africa Research Director at Chatham House. In a country where campaign messages rarely influence voting choices, many believe most of the 14 million voters will cast their ballots based on ethnic, social or regional ties. Mahama comes from Ghana’s northern region while Akufo-Addo is from the east.

Final results are expected Tuesday, although some constituencies have already declared results.