Algerian Presidential Election: Low Turnout Pushes Authorities to Extend Voting

Une faible affluence dans les bureaux de vote. MAXPPP – Billel Bensalem/APP

With barely a quarter of voters having cast their ballots, the electoral authority has postponed by an hour a poll promised to the outgoing president.

Voting was extended Saturday in Algeria for a presidential election in which the outgoing head of state Abdelmadjid Tebboune, running for a second term, is the clear favorite, and whose main issue is the turnout rate.

At 5 p.m., the turnout rate stood at 26.46%, down seven points from 2019 (33.06%), according to the electoral authority Anie. The closing of the polls was therefore delayed by one hour to 8 p.m. “at the request of certain coordinators”, Anie said.

In December 2019, abstention had broken records (60%) during the first election won by Mr. Tebboune with 58% of the vote, while massive pro-democracy demonstrations were in full swing and many parties boycotted the vote. Five years later, facing two little-known opponents and supported by four of the main political parties, Abdelmadjid Tebboune should therefore win a second term, but his legitimacy could be called into question by this low abstention rate.