Tunisians in diaspora vote in legislative polls

TUNIS, Oct 24 (KUNA) -- Tunisians living abroad began on Friday voting parliamentary seats with citizens in Australia were the first to cast their ballots today.
Members of the 210-member Tunisian community in Australia started showing up the embassy building at 8 a.m. (Australia's local time), said Chefik Sarsar, the head of the independent higher electoral authority, in a statement.
Tunisians in South Korea and Japan are also casting their votes, he said, indicating that citizens in other corners of the world would follow suit in later hours of the day. He indicated that there were some difficulties in setting up the ballot places at the diplomatic missions abroad, such as certain obstacles for securing the electoral ink, "which is a hazardous substances that cannot be easily shipped." Some 5.3 million eligible voters are heading to the polling stations today to elect 217 members of the parliament. (end) nm.rk