Algiers : Some 23 million registered voters cast their ballots to elect their next president in Algeria’s fifth presidential election.
Incumbent President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is one of the six candidates in the presidential poll.
Five other candidates include Louisa Hanoune, leader of Workers’ Party, Moussa Touati, head of Algerian National Front, Ali Fawzi Rebaine, leader of the AHD 54 party, Abdelaziz Belaid, head of the Moustakbel Front, and Ali Benflis, a former premier of the country.
The government mobilized an unprecedented 186,000 officers to secure the 27,700 polling stations across the country, and more than 10,000 checkpoints were set up, Xinhua reported citing the country’s General Department of National Security.
More than 500 observers from the Arab League, the African Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, and the UN are monitoring the poll, along with two local bodies, the National Commission on Election Monitoring and the National Commission for the Supervision of Elections.
Observers believe that the race will narrow down to between the 77-year-old Bouteflika, who seeks a fourth five-year term in office, and his former premier Ali Benflis.