Algeria’s legislative elections were overshadowed by signs of weak voter participation at 20.7%, with authorities extending voting by an hour and urging citizens to head to the polls as polling stations in parts of the capital appeared largely empty.
The vote took place as Algeria’s national football team was preparing to face Switzerland in a match that dominated public attention, while President Abdelmadjid Tebboune also drew attention to the case of an Algerian teenager who was allegedly beaten by other underage peers in the United States, an issue that received significant official coverage on election day.
Opposition figures and some commentators said the prominence given to football and isolated overseas incidents reflected a broader tendency to shift public attention away from domestic political issues, including voter apathy and questions over the legitimacy of the electoral process.
Voter participation was one of the key tests of the election. Authorities extended polling by one hour nationwide.
In central Algiers, polling stations were nearly deserted during the afternoon, with election staff outnumbering voters, according to accounts gathered by AFP.
The focus on turnout reflects concerns over the representative legitimacy of parliament in a country where the last legislative elections in 2021 attracted just 23% participation, the lowest level on record.
The vote comes years after the Hirak protest movement that erupted in 2019 and helped force the resignation of longtime president Abdelaziz Bouteflika. Demonstrations later dwindled following restrictions on public gatherings introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic and the prosecution or imprisonment of several leading activists.
Human rights organizations have accused the authorities of reasserting tight control over public space since the decline of Hirak, while many Algerians continue to express frustration over economic opportunities, governance and political reform.
