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Algerians headed to the polls on Thursday to vote for a new parliament in an election shadowed by fears of low turnout among the 25-million-strong electorate.
According to AFP, many polling stations in the capital, Algiers, remained largely empty by early afternoon.
However, state television showed voters lining up in some areas, including the northwestern province of El Aricha.
The election authority said voter turnout had reached 11 percent nationwide by mid-afternoon, while nearly 10 percent of registered overseas voters had also cast their ballots.
The election comes after controversy over the government’s decision to disqualify about one-third of aspiring candidates.
The ruling National Liberation Front (FLN) is widely expected to retain control of the 407-seat National People’s Assembly, whose members serve five-year terms.
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune said the election was progressing as expected, according to the state-run APS news agency.
Prime Minister Said Sayoud declined to comment on turnout but encouraged citizens to vote.
“I call upon Algerian men and women to turn out in large numbers to vote,” he said.
Algeria recorded a historic low voter turnout of 23 percent during the last parliamentary election in 2021, the first vote held after the country’s 2019 pro-democracy protest movement.
