The outgoing president received 94.7% of the votes cast in the first round of voting. Two other candidates were also in the running.
Abdelmadjid Tebboune was opposed by two other candidates, Abdelaali Hassani, leader of the main Islamist party, the Movement of Society for Peace (MSP), and Youcef Aouchiche, head of the Front of Socialist Forces (FFS).
Despite this huge score, the electoral commission remained vague on the turnout rate. It is impossible, 48 hours after the vote, to know how many voters turned out, a figure that is nevertheless essential to ensure the legitimacy of the president.
Electoral authorities said Sunday that 5.6 million of the country’s roughly 24 million eligible voters had cast ballots, or 1 in 4. Such a high abstention rate, which is not yet official, would exceed that of the 2019 presidential election, in which 39.9% of the electorate participated.
Authorities did not explain why they announced a turnout of 48 percent when polls closed.
Before the three candidates questioned the gap, Mr. Tebboune’s two opponents expressed concerns about it, citing their own tallies.
Hours later, however, Mr. Tebboune joined his opponents in questioning the publication of the results. The three campaigns jointly issued a statement accusing the country’s top election official of announcing contradictory results.
