Presidential candidates challenge election result in Algeria after vote-counting discrepancies
The two opposition candidates who ran in Algeria’s election are challenging the result and calling into question President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's landslide victory
ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — The two opposition candidates who ran in Algeria's presidential race legally challenged on Tuesday the provisional result while harshly rebuking election officials and disputing the vote count.
Islamist Abdellali Hassani Cherif and socialist Youcef Aouchiche filed appeals with Algeria's Constitutional Court, taking the first step required to challenge the results of the election, which incumbent President Abdelmadjid Tebboune won with a 94.7% share of the vote.
Algerian law provides the court ten days from the announcement of provisional election results to rule on the appeals. A verdict could require the election authority to recalculate each candidate’s totals without calling into question Tebboune’s victory, for which he has already begun receiving congratulatory messages from Algeria’s foreign allies.
A day before lodging their appeals, both candidates took aim at Mohamed Charfi, the President of Algeria’s National Independent Electoral Authority (ANIE) for how the results of Saturday’s election were reported.
