TUNIS, Oct. 13 -- "I voted for the one I trust, the one who would guarantee the stability of the country and better lifestyle for all citizens," said a 76-year-old Tunisian who came to one of the polling stations in the capital Tunis on Sunday morning.

This will be the second free presidential election in the North African country following the previous one held in December 2017.

The polling centers in 27 constituencies opened on Sunday at 8 a.m. local time (0700 GMT) and will be closed at 6 p.m.. They are traditionally located in primary and secondary schools across Tunisia with strong security presence and special forces armed with assault rifles.

A total of 7 million people are eligible to choose a new president between two candidates, Kais Saied and Nabil Karoui, to succeed late President Beji Caid Essebsi who died on July 25 at the age of 92.

A law professor at Tunis University, the independent candidate Kais Saied is the author of numerous books and articles dealing with constitutional law, but he was barely known before the first round of presidential election held on Sept. 15.

Saied participated in drafting the Constitution of Tunisia but otherwise is a populist in politics. Despite no party behind and running a low-profile campaign, he came out ahead in the first round of the presidential election by winning 18.4 percent of the votes.

"He's clean, educated and poor. I vote for Saied," said Mohammed Amin, a 20-year-old university student majoring in engineering. One exit poll in the first round of the election suggested that Saied won more than a third of the youth vote.

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