Ivorians voted on Saturday in legislative elections marked by low turnout and punctuated by "skirmishes" described as minor by the authorities.

According to provisional figures published overnight by the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI), participation amounted to 32.34% for this election boycotted by the party of ex-president Laurent Gbagbo.

The participation rate was 37.88% in the previous legislative elections in 2021, a rate equivalent to that of 2016.

The provisional results are being announced bit by bit by the IEC.

More than eight million voters were called to the polls, two months after the presidential election largely won by Alassane Ouattara, in power since 2011.

Mr. Ouattara secured a fourth term at the end of October with 89.77% of the vote and a turnout of 50.10%, in an election from which several opposition figures who denounced his candidacy were excluded.

Eleven people died during this election, according to official figures, in this country where elections are often synonymous with political tensions or violence.

Regarding the legislative elections on Saturday, the president of the CEI Ibrahime Kuibiert Coulibaly reported "clashes, but which were indeed brought under control by our law enforcement agents".

"These incidents are minor, to the point of not affecting the smooth running of the electoral process," he added during a midday press briefing, without giving further details.

Some 44,000 members of the Defense and Security forces had been deployed to secure the legislative elections ahead of the vote.

Videos suggesting alleged election fraud circulated on social media in the afternoon.

Independent MP and candidate Tiémoko Assalé, in particular, detailed several alleged cases on his Facebook page and stated that he had filed a complaint against the alleged perpetrators.

President Alassane Ouattara voted late in the morning.

- "Not choosing just anyone" -

"The president is a bit far away, distant. The deputy is close. So, we shouldn't choose just anyone," explained Jonas Amessan, a 31-year-old entrepreneur who came to vote at Notre Dame College, in the Plateau district.

"Sometimes we don't see the elected officials, but I give them my trust because it's my civic duty," said Dominique Tanou Benié, a 76-year-old retired computer scientist, who came to vote at the William Ponty school in Yopougon.

The African People's Party - Ivory Coast (PPA-CI) of former president and opposition leader Laurent Gbagbo, excluded from the presidential election because of a court conviction, boycotted the vote.

However, about twenty of its members chose to run as independent candidates. They were dismissed from their positions by the party.

For its part, the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Ivory Coast (PDCI), whose presidential candidate Tidjane Thiam had also been disqualified for nationality issues, presented candidates.

But one of them, Soumaïla Bredoumy, MP and spokesperson for the party, has been in detention since the end of November, prosecuted in particular for "terrorist acts" and "conspiracy against the authority of the State".

The ruling party, the Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP), for its part presented figures such as Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé and the Minister of Defense and brother of the president, Téné Birahima Ouattara.

Comprising 255 seats, the outgoing National Assembly has 163 members from the RHDP, 66 from the PDCI, 18 from the PPA-CI and 4 independents. Four seats are vacant.

Of the 1,370 candidates selected for the legislative elections, 181 are women.