HARARE, March 29 (Reuters) - Voting ended on Saturday in Zimbabwe's most crucial election since independence in 1980.

Polling stations closed around 7 p.m. (1700 GMT) after 12 hours of voting in presidential, parliamentary and local elections which many Zimbabweans hope will reverse the country's economic collapse under veteran President Robert Mugabe.

In many places, including Harare, voting was heavy in the early morning but subsided later in the day.

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