Tunisians abroad start voting in presidential elections

TUNIS, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) — Tunisians abroad began casting their ballots in the presidential elections on Friday, while polling stations within Tunisia are scheduled to open on Oct. 6.
Speaking at the inauguration of the media center for the 2024 presidential elections on Thursday night, Farouk Bouaskar, president of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), said the voting abroad started from Sydney, Australia, with polling stations there opening at around 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday).
According to the ISIE, 319 polling centers and 409 polling stations have been established in 58 countries on all continents, and the whole voting process will last three days.
Bouaskar said permanent offices have been set up in most of the headquarters of Tunisian diplomatic and consular missions overseas, with the number of voters registered abroad reaching 642,810.
On Sept. 2, the ISIE announced the final list of three candidates: incumbent President Kais Saied, who is running for a second five-year term; Zouhair Maghzaoui, the secretary-general of the People’s Movement party; and Ayachi Zammel, the secretary-general of the Azimoun Movement, who remains in detention for alleged election-related irregularities.
The final results of the presidential elections will be announced by Nov. 9 at the latest.
Tunisia holds presidential elections every five years, with Saied currently serving as president since his election in 2019. ■