Ahlam Karoui, the Director of Projects at the Tunisian Mediterranean Center, registered low female participation in the second round of local elections across various monitored centres.
In a statement to TAP, she described that the Center, concentrating on gender-based observation, deployed 120 observers to border and rural areas across 104 electoral constituencies. It was extremely concerning that in Jendouba and Kasserine governorates, observers encountered restrictions from voting centre members, stopping their entry.
Karoui emphasised two incidents of verbal violence aimed at, one victim a polling station director. Besides, there was a noted disturbance in the electoral process stemming from disputes between candidate representatives. Observations included instances of undue influence and coercion of women outside polling stations, with some voters being approached with their national identity cards before entering the stations.
The Center’s efforts spanned seven governorates: Jendouba, Siliana, Gafsa, Kasserine, Tozeur, Médenine, and Tataouine, where various other irregularities were registered. Notably, there was mass transportation of women to polling stations using tractors, buses, and private vehicles. A notable number of women were also observed leaving polling stations without casting their votes due to their names being missing from the electoral lists, often because of unnotified name changes.
Similarly, Karoui pointed out the gender disparity in electoral leadership roles, noting that women headed only 14 percent of the observed polling stations, indicating a low representation compared to their male counterparts.
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