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                        Polls Close in Tunisian Election

   by Reuters

   Polling stations across Tunisia closed on Sunday, marking the end of a
   presidential run-off election that completes the country's transition
   to full democracy nearly four years after an uprising which ousted
   autocrat Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali.

   The polls closed at 6 p.m. local time and election workers began
   counting votes and collecting papers.

   In the first round of voting in November, the frontrunner Beji Caid
   Essebsi, a former Parliament Speaker under Ben Ali, won 39 percent of
   votes, while the current President Moncef Marzouki took 33 percent of
   the ballots.

   On Sunday, polling opened at 8 a.m. local time with a heavy security
   presence at voting stations around the capital Tunis.

   Voters were seen queuing outside many polling stations throughout the
   day.

   With a new progressive constitution and a full parliament elected in
   October, Tunisia is hailed as an example of democratic change for a
   region still struggling with the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring
   revolts.

   The North African nation avoided the bitter post-revolt divisions
   troubling Libya and Egypt, but Sunday's election is between a former
   Ben Ali official and the incumbent who claims to defend the legacy of
   the 2011 revolution.

   Official preliminary results were not expected until Monday.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-polls-close-in-tunisian-election/
   2568782.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-polls-close-in-tunisian-election/2568782.html