ALGIERS, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Local elections in Algeria wrapped up on 9 pm local time, after authorities decided to extend one hour to enable more citizens to cast vote.
Interior Minister Noureddine Bedaoui announced that the election turnout hit 33.26 percent in municipal elections and 34.46 percent in prefect elections, two hours before the closing of polling stations.
In 2012, the turnout hit 28 percent for municipal elections and 27 percent in the prefect elections.
For his part, Head of the Independent High Commission for Election Monitoring, Abdelouahab Darbal, indicated that more than 600 irregularities have been reported, saying, however, they did not affect the electoral process.
Some 23 million Algerians are eligible to cast vote and chose among 165,000 candidates to be their representatives at 1541 municipal assemblies. More than 16,000 candidates are also contesting to grab seats at the 48 prefect assemblies nationwide.
A total of 180,000 police officers are also mobilized to secure the polls, authorities said.
