Police and soldiers went to the ballot box for the first time in Tunisia on Sunday, casting votes in municipal elections after the lifting of a longtime ban. Most Tunisians will vote on May 6 in the municipal polls -- the first since the North African country’s 2011 revolution -- but members of the security forces cast their ballots a week earlier. Under the long rule of ex-president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, authorities outlawed voting by soldiers and police, insisting security forces remain outside of politics. The new electoral law only allows security forces and members of the army to vote in municipal elections. Some 36,055 soldiers and security agents are registered to vote, according to Mehdi Jalouali from Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE).

Source: The North Africa Journal April 29, 2018 12:11 UTC