ALGIERS, Algeria, Sept 9, (AP): After being declared the winner of Algeria's election, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune joined his two challengers in criticizing the country's election authority for announcing results that contradicted earlier turnout figures and local tallies. The claims of irregularities mar what had earlier appeared to be a landslide re-election for the 78-year-old head of state.

Algeria's National Independent Election Authority, or ANIE, on Sunday announced that Tebboune had won 94.7% of Saturday’s vote, far outpacing his challengers Islamist Abdelali Hassani Cherif, who received only 3.2% and socialist Youcef Aouchiche, who got just 2.2%. Hours later, Tebboune joined his opponents in questioning the reporting of results with the three campaigns jointly issuing a statement accusing the country's top election official of announcing contradictory results.

In a country where elections have historically been carefully choreographed affairs, such astonishing questions about irregularities shocked Algerians who expected Tebboune to win in a relatively uneventful fashion. It’s unclear what will follow all three candidates casting doubt on irregularities and whether they will prompt legal challenges or delay the final certification of the result.

The tally reported on Sunday gave Tebboune a total vote share that was far more than the 87% that Vladimir Putin won in Russia’s March elections and the 92% that Ilham Aliyev got in Azerbaijan’s February contest. But efforts from Tebboune and members of his government to encourage voter turnout to project legitimacy appeared to have fallen short, with less than one out of every four voters participating.

Election officials on Sunday reported 5.6 million of the country’s roughly 24 million voters had turned out to vote. Such high abstention rates, which remain unofficial, would surpass the 2019 presidential election when 39.9% of the electorate participated. Officials did not explain why they had earlier announced 48% voter turnout at the time of polls closing.

Before the three candidates joined in questioning the discrepancy, both of Tebboune’s challengers raised concerns about it, citing their own tallies. Aouchiche called it "strange.” Ahmed Sadok, Cherif’s campaign manager, blasted delays and the way the figure was calculated. "It’s a shame. It’s an attack on the image of Algeria, which will become the laughing stock of nations,” Sadok said earlier in the day.