Tunis/Tunisia — President of the Independent Higher Authority for the Elections (ISIE) Farouk Bouaskar announced that the referendum on the new Tunisian Constitution has indeed started abroad where the first polling stations opened their doors Friday night at 11 p.m. in Sydney, Australia.
Bouaskar added at a press briefing held on Saturday at the Tunis Convention Centre, that all polling stations have opened their doors to receive Tunisian voters in Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe, except for those located in the far west, more precisely in the United States of America and Canada, due to the time difference.
These polling stations will open at 1 p.m. and the ballot will continue until 4 p.m. (taking into account the time difference between Tunisia and these two countries).
He indicated that all polling stations will open at 4 p.m. (Tunisian local time) in all polling centres deployed in 47 countries across the world to welcome voters during three days (July 23-25).
This is a privilege granted by law to voters abroad, the ISIE president indicated, adding that the Tunisian diaspora will be able to vote from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., according to the local time of the host countries.
Besides, Bouaskar affirmed that the teams that will supervise the polling stations, on July 25, will start their work at 05:00 a.m. to prepare the rooms, the polling stations, the registers and the ballot boxes.
The official opening is scheduled for 06:00 a.m., except for centres deployed in border regions and in some remote areas where polling stations will be opened at an exceptional time, on official instructions from the security authorities, he specified.
Bouaskar pointed out the need to vigorously observe the electoral silence scheduled for Sunday, whether by the official authorities, supporters or opposers of the draft new Constitution, recalling that any electoral campaign action on the day of the electoral silence is deemed a "criminal offence" that can be brought before the prosecutor.
9 million 296 thousand voters are registered to vote, including 348 thousand and 876 voters registered abroad. The proclamation of the preliminary results is scheduled for July 26, while the final results will be announced no later than August 27, after the exhaustion of appeals.
