El Kabaria by-election: Only seven votes separate the two candidates in preliminary results

The single vacant seat in the El Kabaria legislative constituency, in the governorate of Tunis, was decided by a margin of just seven votes in the second round of the by-election held on July 19, 2026.

The preliminary results report was approved the following day by the Council of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) before being published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Tunisia.

Chaker Ben Abdessalem Bouthouri leads with 1,225 votes

According to the official report, Chaker Ben Abdessalem Bouthouri (شاكر بن عبد السلام بوثوري) came first with 1,225 votes, representing 50.14% of the valid votes cast.

His rival, Mohamed Salah Ben Hasnaoui Salmi (محمد الصالح بن حسناوي السالمي), received 1,218 votes, or 49.86%.

Only seven votes therefore separated the two candidates. The ISIE stressed, however, that the announced results remain preliminary.

More than 60,000 registered voters

The El Kabaria constituency had 60,111 registered voters. On election day, 2,520 people cast their ballots.

Of the ballots submitted, 2,443 were declared valid, while 54 were deemed invalid and 23 were blank.

The 1,225 votes obtained by the leading candidate represented around 2.04% of all registered voters in the constituency.

This calculation does not affect the electoral rule, which is based on valid votes cast, but it highlights the extent of voter abstention in the by-election.

Final confirmation subject to appeal deadlines

The ISIE report states that Chaker Ben Abdessalem Bouthouri was declared elected to the constituency’s single seat on the basis of the preliminary results.

The final proclamation will only take place after the expiry of the appeal deadlines and the completion of any legal proceedings.

Once the results are definitively validated, the elected candidate will be able to take up his seat in the Assembly of the Representatives of the People.

ISIE reviews monitoring reports

The ISIE Council also reviewed monitoring reports concerning the election campaign, the electoral silence period, media coverage and content published on social media platforms.

The report stated that the proposed measures relating to the violations recorded during the process had been approved.

The electoral authority nevertheless concluded that the irregularities had not affected the overall integrity of the electoral process or the outcome of the vote.

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