TUNIS, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- The number of registered voters for the municipal elections scheduled for Dec. 17 has exceeded 5 million, the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) announced Friday during a press conference.
The ISIE vice president Anouar Belhassen said that out of the total 5,373,845 voters, 535,784 are registered for the first time.
Among the total registered, 47.64 percent are women, and 3.27 percent range from 18 to 21 years old, Belhassen told Xinhua.
Starting on June 19, the registration process ended Thursday midnight with 28,000 new registrations in the day.
According to the ISIE, the applications to 7,182 municipal seats in 350 municipalities should be filed by Sept. 26.
The electoral body explains that any postponement of this deadline would harm the reputation of Tunisia abroad, especially because this would constitute a negative image in the eyes of the international community.
ISIE argues that it is imperative to hold these elections before the end of 2017 because it is the first local election after 2010.
In addition, these elections come to realize the chapter the new Tunisian Constitution approved four years ago, a period qualified as quite sufficient.
According to the Tunisian rules on elections and referendums, candidates for municipal councils must have the Tunisian nationality, at least 18 years old on the day of filing.
Magistrates, heads of provinces, accountants and municipal agents, as well as soldiers, security officers and members of ISIE, are deprived of the right to stand as candidates for municipalities in the constituencies in which they hold office.
