Algeria elections .. Protests and crushing funds, and Bouteflika casting his vote

The Independent Electoral Authority in Algeria said that the first hours of the Algerian elections witnessed a large turnout at polling stations, while demonstrations rejecting the elections were held and polling stations were disrupted in separate areas.

The number of eligible voters is close to 24.5 million, of whom 914,000 are residents abroad, and for the first time these elections are supervised by an independent authority that handles all stages of entitlement.

Turnout
A spokesman for the Independent National Electoral Authority of Algeria, Ali Draa, described the conduct of the presidential elections as very encouraging and that the Algerian people had come to exercise their right to vote with much enthusiasm, he said.

Regarding the disruption of 10% of the polling center in Bejaia, Ali Deraa said in an interview with Al Jazeera that the authorities in Bejaia succeeded in reopening most of the centers that were closed in the morning.

Earlier, the head of the National Elections Authority, Mohamed Sharafi, said that the participation rate three hours after the start of the elections amounted to 7.92%, and added that 10% of polling stations and 5% of offices were disrupted.

About 61,000 polling stations across the country opened their doors as expected at eight o'clock (7.00 GMT), according to the official Algerian News Agency.

Smash boxes
As soon as the voting process started, opponents of the elections stormed two polling centers in Bejaia, one of the largest cities in the Kabylie region, and "shattered the ballot boxes and sabotaged the voter lists," according to witnesses who spoke to Agence France-Presse.

Activists broadcast pictures to prevent a number of election opponents from opening polling stations in the city of Bejaia, and the police prevented dozens of people from storming a center while chanting slogans calling for peace and refusing to hold the elections in the current circumstances.

Pictures broadcast by activists also showed the throwing of ballot boxes, candidate papers and voter records on the street.

Regarding the disruption of 10% of the polling center in Bejaia, a spokesman for the Independent National Elections Authority of Algeria, Ali Draa, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera that the authorities in Bejaia had succeeded in reopening most of the centers that were closed in the morning.

Protests
Parallel to this, thousands took to the streets of central Algiers, chanting "No to vote" as the authorities organized presidential elections, which the protest movement considered a theatrical aim to keep the ruling elite in power. Police officers rushed to disperse the protesters with sticks, but they retreated as more protesters arrived.

Demonstrations also took place in Constantine and Tizi-Ouzou, refusing to hold elections under the current circumstances. In the Kabylie region, a major center of protests against the ruling elite, a resident said that protesters stormed a polling station in the city of Bejaia, destroyed polling booths and took to the streets in the town of Hazar chanting "No to vote."

Witnesses said that polling stations in some areas remained closed hours after the official start of voting at 7:00 GMT.
The positions are closed at 6 GMT, and results are not expected until Friday at the earliest.

The protesters denounce an "electoral farce" and demand more than ever the overthrow of the "regime" that has ruled the country since its independence in 1962 and the departure of all those who supported or were part of Bouteflika's twenty-year reign and forced to resign under street pressure in April.

The army, which is the most powerful element in the political arena, believes that voting is the only way to restore security and order in the country by choosing a successor to former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who was toppled by a popular uprising this year after he spent two decades in office.

Bouteflika's vote
On the other hand, ousted Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika cast his vote in the presidential elections that started today, Thursday, when he commissioned his brother Nasser to vote on his behalf in one of the polling stations in the capital.

Video clips showed that Nasser, the brother of President Abdel Bouteflika, presented to the voting office the identity card of his brother, the former president, to vote on his behalf in the Al-Bashir Ibrahimi School in the Al-Abyar district of the capital.

Local media reported that Nasser Bouteflika assured reporters that he had voted in the elections based on the power of attorney from his brother.

It seems that the health status of Bouteflika, who left the presidency under the pressure of the popular movement, did not allow him to come to the voting office.

The massive protests that toppled Bouteflika ten months ago broke out and protesters vowed to boycott the elections.

Bouteflika stepped down after the army withdrew his support in April, and the authorities were forced to postpone the elections twice, as they had been scheduled for April and July.

Five candidates are competing in the elections, namely Abdul Majeed Tabun and Ali bin Falis, both former Prime Minister, Ezzeddine Mihoubi, former Minister of Culture and former Minister of Tourism Abdel Qader bin Qurainah, and Abdel Aziz Belaid, a former member of the Central Committee of the National Liberation Front, and protesters do not believe that any of them can challenge The military's dominance of politics.