TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisians recently went to the polls to cast votes in the country’s first municipal elections since the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in the 2011 revolution. The Independent High Electoral Commission announced the preliminary results May 10, with independent candidates winning the most votes, at 32.9%, followed by Ennahda with 29.68% and Nidaa Tunis with 22.17%.
Most Tunisians cast their ballots on May 6, but military and security personnel had cast theirs prior to that, on April 29, amid objections to their participation on the grounds that it would lead to political and partisan polarization in the ranks. Military members have not been allowed to vote since shortly after independence, in 1956, and the prohibition was extended to police and state security forces in the 1980s.
