KUNA’s correspondents in the various constituencies said that turnout was very low in the early morning hours, adding that mainly old men were seen lining up in front of election committees. Small numbers of women were seen.
Thursday is a regular workday for the public and private sectors, and voters are expected to show up at polling stations in greater numbers in the afternoon.
Over 347,000 are eligible to cast ballot in 456 committees in 88 schools designated as polling stations. They will elect 10 representatives from 72 hopefuls, one for each of the 10 constituencies. The remaining six members of the 16-seat civic body will be elected by the Council of Ministers.
The overall turnout at the end of the 12-hour process which opened at 0800 local time (0500 GMT) is expected to be much lower than that of the May 2009 parliamentary elections which topped 62 percent.