Rwandans vote in presidential election

KIGALI, Rwanda – Rwandans are voting in an election that the country's longtime president is widely expected to win.

President Paul Kagame is running against Frank Habineza of the opposition Democratic Green Party and independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana.

There are long queues Friday morning in the capital Kigali, where all the candidates are registered to vote.

Kagame won the 2010 election with 93 percent of the vote.

The 59-year-old has been de-facto leader or president of the nation of 12 million people since his rebels ended the 1994 genocide. While he remains popular for presiding over economic growth, critics accuse him of using the powers of the state to remove perceived opponents.

Rwanda has about 6.9 million registered voters.

Polls close at 3 p.m. local time, and provisional results are expected late Friday.