Parliamentary By-Election in Tunisia Sees Voter Turnout Below 1%

The parliamentary by-election held in Tunisia's El Kabaria district has generated significant controversy due to an exceptionally low voter turnout that did not exceed 1%, turning the event into a subject of mockery and skepticism.

Social media users responded to the announced low participation rate by posting sarcastic comments and questioning the legitimacy of the election results in the El Kabaria constituency of the Tunis capital.

This by-election was organized following the death of MP Saleh Al-Mubaraky on March 6, 2026. The first round of voting in this single electoral district took place on June 30, 2026.

The second round occurred yesterday amid an almost complete absence of voters in one of the largest electoral districts in the Tunis capital.

“Shahid,” an election monitoring organization supporting democratic transitions, reported a “significant weakness in turnout at polling stations during the second round of the partial legislative elections in the El Kabaria electoral district of the Tunis governorate,” noting that participation “did not reach 1% by 2 p.m.”

The monitoring group, which focuses on election oversight, explained in its statement about the electoral process that the same number and geographic distribution of polling stations used in the first round were maintained, with a single polling office serving multiple centers. This was despite the organization’s earlier recommendation to reduce and merge polling stations due to low turnout.

Mohamed Al-Hamdi, a leader in the Democratic Current party, posted on Facebook: “Update us on the El Kabaria elections... I am not asking about voter turnout or the candidates... The important thing is that monitoring delegations from Russia and the Arab League are present.”

Civil society activist Sadiq Ayad wrote on Facebook: “El Kabaria elections... Even the candidates did not go to vote... Only 1% turnout.”

Tunisian media figure Fateen Hafsia commented on Facebook about the low turnout: “A special and royal salute to the voters who participated in the second round to choose their parliamentary candidate in the El Kabaria district... They voted in temperatures approaching 50 degrees... They melted before the election promises did.”

Civil society activist Ahmed Zaydi shared on Facebook: “Forgive me... I know you don’t need more negative waves... But this issue is very serious... Today I saw someone selling his vote for 20 dinars (about 6 dollars) just to go to the polling stations.”

Another civil society activist, Imam Al-Latifi, posted on Facebook: “An electoral celebration in the El Kabaria district, one of the neighborhoods of the Tunis capital, an unprecedented political success: turnout exceeded 1%... No consolation for the traitors who bet on the failure and sabotage of this celebration.”