(190916) -- TUNIS, Sept. 16, 2019 (Xinhua) -- A staff member of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE) counts the votes of the presidential election at the counting center in Tunis, Tunisia, Sept. 16, 2019. The participation rate in the first round of presidential elections in Tunisia reached 45.02 percent, announced Sunday evening by Nabil Bafoun, president of the Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE). According to the ISIE, preliminary results of the election will be announced on Sept. 17. Tunisians voted for a new president to succeed the former President Beji Caid Essebsi, who died on July 25. (Photo by Adele Ezzine/Xinhua)