Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed hopes the national and regional elections will show the success of democratic reforms he launched after being appointed by the ruling coalition in 2018.

But the vote also reflects a messy reality in the country of 109 million people. Authorities could not hold polls on Monday in four of Ethiopia's 10 regions including Sidama, where there were logistical problems, according to the election board.

"Democracy is not built in a day. We are laying it brick by brick," Abiy said in a statement late on Monday.

"No matter who wins, Ethiopians from all over the country have voted for whomever they choose, without any fear and without any kind of pressure. And because of that, Ethiopia is triumphant."

In two regions where voting did happen, opposition observers were reportedly chased away from many polling stations, board chief Birtukan Midekssa told reporters late on Monday.

Abiy's newly formed national Prosperity Party is widely forecast to defeat the fragmented opposition of dozens of mostly ethnically based parties. The ruling coalition and its allies hold all 547 national parliamentary seats.

Though Abiy won the Nobel Prize in 2019 for making peace with neighbouring Eritrea, his international reputation has been tarnished since conflict erupted in the northern Tigray region in November.

Fighting between Ethiopia's military and the region's former governing party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, has forced more than two million people from their homes, and the United Nations reports there is a famine looming.

No date has been set for elections in Tigray.

The opposition alleged some irregularities in regions that voted.

Final election results are expected within two weeks.

Australian Associated Press