ALGIERS, Algeria

The Independent National Election Authority in Algeria announced on Sunday that the voter turnout for the early presidential election held the previous day was 48.03%.

In a statement to state television, election authority head Mohamed Charfi said voter participation abroad stood at 19.57%, with polling still underway in some countries due to time zone differences.

Charfi said the figure was preliminary, with final official results expected later. This participation rate surpasses the turnout in the 2019 presidential election, which was 39.88%.

On Saturday evening, the election authority extended voting by an hour, pushing the closing time by an hour to 7 p.m. (1800GMT).

The candidates competing included incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, Abdelaali Hassani Cherif, leader of the Movement of Society for Peace, the largest Islamic party, and Youcef Aouchiche, the first secretary of the Socialist Forces Front, the oldest opposition party in the North African country.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi