Saied, 66, won Sunday's vote by a landslide with 2.4 million votes -- but with a turnout at only 28.8 percent of nearly 10 million eligible voters.

His imprisoned rival Ayachi Zammel received just 7.3 percent, and third candidate Zouhair Maghzaoui only 1.9 percent, ISIE head Farouk Bouasker said on national television.

On Sunday, the ISIE said just six percent of voters were aged 18-35, a category constituting a third of the initially eligible electorate.

Sunday's turnout was the lowest recorded in a Tunisian presidential after Ben Ali's ouster. In 2019, 58 percent turned out to vote for Saied as president.

Late Sunday, hundreds of Saied supporters took to the streets of Tunis in celebration after exit polls announced his potential win with 89 percent.

"I voted yesterday, and the results are excellent, everything is going very well, the atmosphere is great," said Mounir, 65.

"What we need now is a drop in prices. We want better education, health and above all safety."

Saied had been widely expected to win after the ISIE barred 14 candidates from standing, leaving just Zammel and Maghzaoui as challengers.

Zammel, a little-known liberal businessman, has been behind bars since his bid was approved by the ISIE in September. He faces more than 14 years in prison for forging endorsements.

Maghzaoui had backed Saied, and was seen as no threat.

Saied had called on Tunisians to "vote massively" to usher in what he called an era of "reconstruction".

He cited "a long war against conspiratorial forces linked to foreign circles", accusing them of "infiltrating many public services and disrupting hundreds of projects".

The International Crisis Group think tank has said that while Saied "enjoys significant support among the working classes, he has been criticised for failing to resolve the country's deep economic crisis".

Celebrating the exit polls late Sunday, Saied again warned of "foreign interference", pledging to rid Tunisia "of the corrupt and conspirators".

*This story was edited by Ahram Online