Long before sunrise on June 21, 2021, Ethiopians in the capital queued to vote in the country's first election in six years. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said it would be the country's "first attempt at a free and fair election." "I came early to vote for whom I believe will bring us a bright future," said Tenaye Melkamu, wearing a pink knit hat and thick scarf. Now, officials are tallying the ballots in the prime minister's first electoral contest after more than three years in office. And as the country awaits results, the northern Tigray region is once again plagued by violence as it approaches eight months of war.Ethiopian officials said voting was finishing and preliminary results would be known in five days, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 22, 2021. (VOA/Yan Boechat)"No one is moving now," one young man told VOA from his home in Tigray, after describing a day and a half of chaos and fear. He cannot be named for security reasons. Three different militaries have controlled his town in the past two days, where several houses have been destroyed and three people have been killed, he said.  In another part of Tigray, witnesses reported a bomb dropped by a plane killed dozens of people and wounded dozens more, according to Reuters news. The road to the regional capital, Mekelle, is also closed, preventing wounded patients from reaching the main hospital. Many voters arrived at polling stations before the 6 a.m. start time, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, June 21, 2021. (VOA/Yan Boechat)In the capital, Addis Ababa, the roads were calm and people seemed somewhat relieved on Wednesday. Voting had been tense with many people waiting long hours because of missing ballots and election workers.  By Monday night, after the polls were supposed to close, millions of would-be voters were still waiting to cast their ballots across several regions.  "I'm exhausted," said Eden Hagos, a voter in central Addis Ababa, after waiting for about 10 hours on Monday evening. "Maybe I will go without voting. I have two children who have been at home all day." Not voting But by Tuesday evening, officials said almost all of Ethiopia's polling stations that had opened had finished accepting ballots. Preliminary results are expected within the coming days. About a fifth of country's 547 parliamentary constituencies, however, were not voting.  Opposition leaders said the election had hundreds of irregularities, such as missing ballots and, in some places, monitors ...