Only 16% Of Voters Boycotted Bahrain Polls: Minister

Around 51.5 percent of total registered voters had taken part in Bahrain's parliamentary election, the country's Justice Minister Khaled Al-Khalifa said Saturday, a short time after polling stations across Bahrain closed down their doors at 19: 00 GMT.



He added that 53.7 percent of registered voters also cast ballots in the municipal election, which was held on Saturday as well.



"Only 16 percent of voters had boycotted the polls," Al-Khalifa said in a press conference.



He did not, however, mention where the remaining voters had gone, but some people say that he was most probably referring to the gap between voter turnout in the 2010 election, in which the opposition participated, and turnout in the 2014 election, which was largely boycotted by this opposition.



In 2010, voter turnout reached 67.7 percent.



Bahrain's opposition had largely boycotted the parliamentary and municipal elections, which started in the early hours of Saturday.



Around 349,713 voters were eligible to vote in the elections to choose 39 members for Bahrain's parliament and 29 local councilors.



A total of 419 candidates ran in the elections, according to local media.



Candidates who fail to secure more than 50 percent of the votes in their respective constituencies will be part of an election runoff after one week.



Vote counting has already started soon after polling stations across Bahrain closed down their doors at 19: 00 GMT.



Bahrain's state television broadcasted footage of election commission staffs counting the votes inside polling stations.



The election commission decided earlier in the day to extend the vote for two hours, citing what it described as "high voter turnout."



Earlier on Saturday, Bahrain's opposition expected total voter turnout not to exceed 30 percent.



"More than 80 percent of the people who showed up at polling stations were either civil servants and their families or employees at security agencies," Ali Salman, the secretary-general of the opposition Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, said.



He added in a statement that only 17 percent of voters had participated in the elections on their free will.



Al-Wefaq and other opposition movements accused the government of coercing citizens to participate in the elections.  



Bahrain has been beset by political turmoil since 2011.  



Ahmed al-Masri



englishnews@aa.com.tr



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