Malawians are waiting to find out who their next president will be as polls have closed in most parts of the country and counting has started.
Thousands of people queued outside polling stations on Tuesday to vote for a president, MPs and local councillors, keenly hoping to effect change in a country swamped by economic troubles. Some are still voting in areas where polling started late.
In his campaign for a second term, current President Lazarus Chakwera pledged to fix Malawi's economy - as did his main rival, octogenarian former leader Peter Mutharika.
If no candidate wins more than half the votes, the top two contenders will head to a run-off.
There is anger in us. I want to change this government. I want young people to be in good jobs, Ettah Nyasulu, a 28-year-old waitress told the AFP press agency before heading out to vote.
Malawi has long been one of the poorest countries in the world, but recent times have been especially punishing. Food costs have been rising at more than 30% in the last year and wages have not kept pace.
The high inflation rate has partly been put down to a shortage of foreign currency - known as forex - in the banks.
President Chakwera, who has promised to tackle this shortage, stood in line to vote with local residents at his home village, Malembo, which is about 56km (35 miles) north-east of the capital city Lilongwe.
However, there are 15 other candidates, including another former president, and the country's only female head of state, Joyce Banda.
The election is effectively a two-horse race between Chakwera and Mutharika, who he defeated in 2020.
As the votes are counted, the Malawi Electoral Commission has until the end of September to announce the results for both the presidential and parliamentary elections.
