This round is dedicated to selecting candidates who did not receive a majority of votes in the first round (Anatolia)
Polling stations in Tunisia closed their doors this evening with the end of the voting process in the second round of local council elections designated for choosing members of the second chamber of Parliament in accordance with the electoral system approved by the Constitution, with a participation rate of 12.44%.
This round is devoted to selecting one of the candidates who did not receive a majority of votes in the first round held on December 24 last year.
The head of the Independent High Authority for Elections, Farouk Bouaskar, announced - during a press conference in the capital, Tunis - that “with the closing of the polls at six o’clock in the evening local time (17:00 GMT), the participation of 520,303 Tunisian voters in the second round of the local elections was recorded, with a percentage of Official and semi-final turnout reached 12.44%.”
He added, "Eight hours after the start of the election process, more than 429,000 voters headed to the polling stations."
In a previous press conference on Sunday, Bouaskar said, “All polling stations in the second round of the local council elections were opened on time without delay.”
He added, "The elections are taking place in 779 electoral districts out of 2,129 districts concerned with electing local councils."
Regarding the number of candidates, Bouaskar said, “1,558 candidates are competing in the elections, while 4,181,871 voters will participate in this second round, who will go to 2,037 polling stations.”
According to the Independent High Authority for Elections, the number of winners in the first round reached 1,349 candidates out of a total of 7,205 candidates, including 6,177 candidates for the direct elections, and 1,028 candidates for the lottery process for 279 seats designated for people with disabilities, distributed in the form of one seat in each local council.
The first round of local council elections witnessed a boycott from the opposition, such as the National Salvation Front, the Workers’ Party, and the Afek Tounes Party, while the loyalist parties, including the People’s Movement, the Tunisia Forward Movement, and the Popular Movement, expressed their Endorse it.
Since July 25, 2021, Tunisia has been witnessing a political crisis when President Kais Saied began imposing exceptional measures, including dissolving the Judicial Council and Parliament, issuing legislation by presidential orders, approving a new constitution through a referendum in July 2022, and holding early legislative elections in December. From the same year and last January.
Source: Al Jazeera + Anatolia