Rioting mobs destroyed polling stations in Congo's east and electoral officials organized a revote over burned ballots in the north Monday, yet much of the war-scarred Central African nation called the landmark presidential vote a success as the colossal task of counting ballots began.

The election pitted President Joseph Kabila against his vice president, Jean- Pierre Bemba, a former rebel, in a vote that many hoped would usher the country into democracy after more than 40 years of dictatorship and war. But there are also fears the vote would ignite a return to fighting, four years after a 1998- 2002 conflict that drew armies from more than half a dozen African nations.

On Monday, a day after the vote, mobs in the northeastern border town of Fataki destroyed 43 polling stations - and the ballots stored within - after an army sergeant killed two electoral workers. A spokesman for the United Nations, Leocadio Salmeron, said it was unclear what had prompted the shooting, which sparked rioting.

Elsewhere, polling stations posted tallies and election workers prepared to go home after spending two nights at their posts. In Kinshasa, where problems collecting and counting millions of first-round ballots in July left the results open to criticism, the UN commandeered trucks and cars from its various agencies to retrieve ballots and bring them to 14 collection centers.

Both candidates have pledged to accept the results - an important pact given that fighting between their personal security forces in August killed at least 23 people after results from the first round were released.

At least one person died Sunday when protesters who suspected ballot tampering ransacked a dozen polling stations and clashed with security forces in the northwest town of Bumba. The looted polling centers were scheduled to reopen Tuesday to give voters another chance to vote. Meanwhile, a rights group said blockades set up by soldiers extorting money prevented thousands from voting in the east.