Citizens of the Central African Republic began casting ballots on Wednesday in long-delayed elections that represent the best hope of reuniting the country, one of the world's poorest, after three years of sectarian violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people.<br />Heavy turnout was expected among the country's 1.8 million registered voters, nearly 40 percent of the population, and stores were largely closed so that workers could cast their ballots, a process that usually takes hours.<br />Many lined up outside schools and other polling stations well before the polls opened at 6 a.m., as United Nations peacekeepers from Burundi, France, Mauritania, Pakistan and other countries, along with 40 election monitors from the African Union, watched over polling stations.<br />Marie-Madeleine N'kouet Hoornaert, the president of the National Election Authority, said in a statement on Wednesday that some poll workers were blocking access to election documents and materials in an attempt to disrupt the voting.
