Sidama
Ethiopia to unveil referendum results on new state on Saturday
The referendum on autonomy springs from a federal system designed to provide widespread ethnic self-rule in a hugely diverse country.
People formed long queues at polling stations at dawn, with some 2.3 million people registered to vote.
The Sidama push for statehood already triggered days of unrest in July that left dozens dead and prompted the government to place Ethiopia's southern region under the control of soldiers and federal police.
Some of his friends were so concerned that violence would erupt on Thursday that they sent their wives and children to the national capital Addis Ababa, he added.