Tunisian presidential elections: Start of voting abroad

14 Sep 2019; MEMO: The voting process for the Tunisian presidential elections for nationals living abroad in six electoral circles has begun on Friday at dawn. This will continue until 15 September, the date of commencement of the voting process within Tunisia.

A total of 302 voting centres have been established to receive 386,053 registered voters, in 49 foreign countries, out of a total of 7,074,566 registered voters, according to a statement by the Tunisian Independent High Authority for Elections.

“Tunisians should go to the voting centres on 15 September at home, and on 13, 14, 15 September abroad, to contribute to the success of the electoral celebration,” explained member of the High Authority for Elections, Farouk Bouaskar, at a conference held by the Authority on Thursday evening.

He added that the presidential elections will be held in 49 countries abroad and that the challenge was to deliver electoral materials to offices outside Tunisia on time. The Authority has managed to succeed in this challenge, through meticulous preparation.

The voting process has been launched by the first office in Sydney, Australia, with the High Authority for Elections airing a video documenting the process. The last voting centre to open will be in San Francisco, USA.

Voting centres abroad are spread across Germany, with six centres dedicated to 28,623 voters, the American continent and the rest of Europe, with 55 centres for 57,885 voters, France 1 with 52 centres for 88,836 voters, France 2, with 64 centres for 117,133 voters, Italy, with 78 centres for 57,697 voters, and the Arab world and the rest of the countries of the world, with 47 centres for 35,879 voters.

The electoral campaign abroad began on 31 August and ran until 11 September, however, most of the candidates were unable to attend their constituents abroad.

The Tunisian Independent High Authority for Elections organised a meeting on the latest preparations for the elections, in the presence of the presidencies of the republic, the government, ministers, diplomats, Tunisian and international organisations, as well as a representative of the Arab League.

26 candidates are vying for Tunisia’s early presidential elections.