Exit poll shows President Saied winning Tunisia’s presidential election with 89.2% of vote

By Yemna Selmi

TUNISIA (AA) – An exit poll indicates that incumbent Tunisian President Kais Saied has won a second term in elections held Sunday, receiving 89.2% of the vote.

“The estimated results indicate Kais Saied's victory in the presidential election with 89.2%, totaling 2,194,150 votes, said Hassan Zargouni, the director of polling company Sigma Conseil, speaking on Tunisian public television.

The electoral authority announced the final list of candidates on Sept. 2, including three contenders: incumbent President Kais Saied, opposition candidate Ayachi Zammel, secretary-general of the Azimoun movement, and Zouhair Maghzaoui, secretary-general of the People's Movement – a supporter of Saied.

Zargouni added that Zammel received 6.9% with 169,727 votes, while Maghzaoui received 3.9% with 95,933 votes.

Earlier on Sunday, the Independent High Authority for Elections in Tunisia announced that the preliminary voter turnout in the elections was 27.7% by the time polling stations closed at 6 p.m. local time (1700GMT).

Farouk Bouaskar, the president of the authority, said at a press conference in Tunis that "the electoral process went smoothly, and we did not record any incidents that marred this election day, with a respectable turnout from Tunisians at polling stations both domestically and abroad."

"A total of 2,704,155 voters participated in the voting process today, resulting in a preliminary turnout of 27.7%,” he added.

Bouaskar said the official and final turnout rates will be announced alongside the preliminary election results on Monday evening.

On Sunday morning, the voting process began in Tunisia to elect a president for a five-year term, while voting abroad commenced on Friday in 59 countries.

Tunisia's election is taking place amid political tensions, economic challenges and a polarized electorate.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala