Tunisians continue to vote in the second round of presidential elections in which independent candidate Kais Said and the head of the Heart of Tunisia party, Nabil Karoui, are competing amid signs that voter turnout is higher than the first round and legislative elections.
According to the Independent Electoral Commission in a press conference that the turnout rate of ballot boxes reached 17.8% as of 11:45 am, registering an increase compared to the first round which took place on September 15 last year, where the rate at the same time was 16.3%.
Polls opened at 8 am local time for over seven million voters, while some 400,000 Tunisian voters abroad continue to vote for the third and final day.
The percentage of voters abroad reached their participation rate during the past two days about 14%, and the Electoral Commission expected to increase the turnout by the end of the third day of voting.
At home, social media footage showed that elderly and elderly people were racing to cast their ballots, while young people were expected to vote higher in the afternoon.
Al-Jazeera correspondents in a number of polling stations in the districts of the capital, Ariana and Kasserine reported that the turnout appeared to be higher in the first hours of the first round and in the legislative elections, pointing out that the vote is taking place calmly and with the deployment of security forces.
Independent candidate Qais Saeed came in first place during the first round with 18.4% of the votes compared to 15.6% for the second place Nabil Karoui.
For its part, denied the Independent Electoral Commission to reduce the number of observers in polling stations, and described what was promoted in this regard rumors, although it acknowledged that there is a misallocation of these observers in some offices.
She added that about 6,000 observers from six NGOs in addition to 700 foreign observers are monitoring the conduct of the polls, noting that it has granted more than 33 thousand credentials to representatives of the candidates competing in the second round to monitor the conduct of the ballot.
In the same context, member of the electoral commission Anis Jarboui told Mosaic private radio that the Commission is not responsible for the misallocation of observers to polling stations, adding that it asked its reserve staff to join the offices where there is a shortage of observers
In turn, the Tunisian Interior Ministry said in a statement that the voting began in a stable atmosphere.