Tunis/Tunisia — "In case of equality of votes between two candidates in the second round of parliamentary elections, victory is given to the youngest," said Spokesperson of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), Mohamed Tlili Mansri, adding that this hypothesis is "unlikely.

He spoke at a press briefing Sunday at the media center at the Convention Center in Tunis, devoted to monitoring the progress of voting operations for the 2023 runoff parliamentary elections.

Referring to the issue of vacant seats to be filled for constituencies abroad (7 stations abroad), the spokesman for the electoral authority said that "the day after the announcement of the final results of the parliamentary elections and after the meeting of the new parliament, we will be in "the obligation to legislate by way of laws and not decree-laws."

From now on, "it is the parliamentary house that is sovereign. It will also decide on appropriate ways to fill vacant seats in the remaining constituencies, "said the ISIE spokesman.

Mansri also stressed that the ISIE Council is called to provide all appropriate conditions for the success of the election.

As part of its mission, the authority is called to inform the Tunisian voter of the date of the elections, to provide the necessary logistical and human resources as well as election materials and polling stations and inform the voter of the content of the candidates' programmes.

The polling stations opened their doors, Sunday, around 8 am, in 131 constituencies nationwide, to receive voters in the second round of early legislative elections to elect members of the new parliament.

262 candidates, including 34 women, are competing in this second round of legislative elections. They are divided into two candidates for each electoral district that won the first round with the highest number of votes cast but did not obtain the required absolute majority.