Votes are being counted in South Africa after a high general election turnout led to long queues at polling stations and a shortage of ballot¹ papers.

南非大选某投票站排起了长队、选票短缺，表决数据库正在被统计中。

Voting was extended in some areas to cater² for lengthy³ queues

Voting was extended in some areas amid（在其间，在其中） fears ballot papers were running out, and some ballot boxes were full.

The election passed off peacefully, with no reports of political violence or intimidation（恐吓，威胁）.

Monday's poll was the country's fourth general election since the end of apartheid（种族隔离） 15 years ago.

The election is expected to be the most competitive since the end of apartheid in 1994. The ruling ANC - led by Jacob Zuma - is expected to win.

But it could lose the two-thirds majority in parliament which allows it to change the constitution.

Among the ANC's rivals is a new party - Congress of the People (Cope) - formed last year by a group which split from the ANC after ex-President Thabo Mbeki was replaced as leader.

Charges of corruption⁴ against Mr Zuma were dropped just two weeks before the poll, after state prosecutors⁵ said there had been political interference in the case.

High turnout

The first results were due in the early hours of Thursday, but the BBC's Peter Biles, in Pretoria, says it will be some time yet before a clear trend emerges.

Our correspondent says a high turnout - estimated at around 80% - could benefit the ANC.

But he says the party might struggle to retain its two-thirds majority in the face of increased competition.

Braving wintry（冬天的，荒凉的） weather on Wednesday, long queues of voters formed outside many of the 20,000 polling stations catering⁶ for 23 million registered voters around the country.

Later in the day reports began to emerge of a surge in demand for ballot papers and long queues at polling stations.

Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Helen Zille has threatened to take the IEC to court over the shortage of ballot papers, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) reported.

She said 24 voting stations had run out of ballot papers in parts of Gauteng and Cape⁷ Town - areas where her party has a strong following, according to the SABC.

'Voting for change'

Many of the new voters were young people who have little memory of the struggle to end white minority rule, which brought the ANC to power.

Analysts⁸ say Cope's emergence⁹ energised（使精力充沛） the early stages of the election campaign, but the party's popularity seems to have diminished（减少了的，别贬低的） in recent weeks.

Cope fielded a relatively¹⁰ unknown presidential candidate, former Bishop¹¹ Mvume Dandala, who analysts say has struggled to make an impact.

Some say the real battle is between Cope and the Democratic Alliance - for second place.

Neither party has ruled out entering into a coalition¹²（结合，合并） after the election.