“Our party members are being detained, and the government has arrested some of our supporters who were meant to be observers during the election,” said Yilkal Getnet, chairman of the opposition party, Semayawi.

This campaign season “has been marred by gross, systematic and widespread violations of ordinary Ethiopians’ human rights,” Amnesty International said in a statement. The African Union is deploying international observers this year; unlike past elections, the European Union was not invited.

The E.P.R.D.F.’s control over rural areas often makes the state and the party indistinguishable, creating an environment where low-level officials feel free to direct citizens on how to vote.

Mr. Berhanu said that the people had been instructed by local officials to cast their ballots for the status quo. “In other areas, they have opposition parties. Here, there is only one,” he said. “Only the bee.”

The ruling party has had a strong rural base since its inception as a rebel group during the 1980s, when it relied on a network of fighters in the countryside to battle a military government based in Addis Ababa.

Today, the government bolsters its support in rural areas through a range of development projects aimed at farmers: providing agricultural training and fertilizers, as well as health clinics and schools. “These farmers are receiving benefits,” said Ermias Abebe, a political analyst and former professor at Addis Ababa University. “And if you’re getting benefits because the E.P.R.D.F. is in power, you don’t want to lose that.”

The people of Dakabora have received a health clinic and agricultural training, but not all are enthusiastic about the ruling party. “The government has done nothing for us,” said Solomon Tefere, a village priest, who said that villagers’ thatched-roofed huts have no electricity or running water. Mr. Berhanu said local officials forced him to buy expensive fertilizer on the threat of losing the right to farm his land.