The Chahed Observatory has recorded electoral offences during the first round of the local elections "that could amount to electoral crimes", according to Naceur Harabi, executive director of the Observatory. Speaking at a press conference in Tunis on Monday with organisations involved in election monitoring, Harabi said that representatives of candidates had influenced the will of voters at polling stations. In addition, he said, violations of the secrecy of the ballot were recorded in several polling stations in different regions of the country. In addition, Harabi said that Chahed's observers recorded a partial malfunction of the official mobile application designed to automatically record voter turnout (194) in several polling stations. With regard to the drawing of lots for candidates in the category of people with disabilities, the executive director of Chahed considered that the operations had taken place "in full transparency", in the presence of officials from regional bodies under the ISIE, civi l society observers and journalists. Naceur Harabi said that the turnout was "low", pointing to a lack of interest among young voters. For her part, Oula Ben Néjma, president of Chahed, stressed the need to take into account the recommendations made by civil society associations on the conduct of the elections. She called for the prosecution of anyone involved in electoral crimes or abuses during the campaign, on the day of the poll or on polling day. For the first round of local elections, the Chahed Observatory deployed 44 regional coordinators and 503 field observers in the constituencies. Source: Agence Tunis Afrique Presse
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