Algeria's 78-year-old president is expected to breeze to a second term in election
Algerians have voted in an election to decide whether army-backed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune gets another term in office — five years after pro-democracy protests prompted the military to oust the previous president after two decades in power
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algerians voted Saturday in an election to decide whether army-backed President Abdelmadjid Tebboune gets another term in office — five years after pro-democracy protests prompted the military to oust the previous president after two decades in power.
There is little suspense about the result with Tebboune expected to win easily. The question is more about how many voters cast ballots.
Tebboune said after voting that he hoped “whoever wins will continue on the path towards a point of no return in the construction of democracy.”
Polls closed late Saturday and vote counting was underway as Algerians awaited an announcement of the results. The country's election authority at 12:10 a.m. said that vote counting to so far suggested voter turnout was 48% in Algeria and 19.6% for precincts abroad — outpacing the country’s 2019 presidential election, where 39.9% of voters turned out to vote.
