Cairo: SiltaNews – News Desk
Egyptians abroad began voting at 9 a.m. Monday local time in Wellington, New Zealand – the first country to open polls for the rerun of the first round of voting in 19 constituencies of the first phase of the House of Representatives election whose results had previously been annulled.
The vote covers reruns in 19 individual-member constituencies in seven governorates. Results of those constituencies in the first phase of election were annulled due to serious irregularities. It also covers a runoff for one constituency in Fayoum.
Voting takes place Monday and Tuesday at 139 polling stations inside Egyptian embassies and consulates across 117 countries, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time. Any Egyptian national abroad whose name is on the voter registry and whose home district is among the affected seven governorates may cast a ballot.
The constituencies span the governorates of Giza, Fayoum, Assiut, Sohag, Qena, Alexandria, and Beheira. The NEA had nullified results of individual elections in 19 constitutions on 18 November, based on violations it had documented.
The broader cancellations follow directives by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who had requested the authority to “thoroughly review, the events that occurred in some constituencies where individual candidates competed” and the appeals submitted regarding them. He asked the authority to “enhance the transparency of procedures by making sure that each candidate’s representative had received a copy of the vote tally from the sub-committee.”
The president urged the authority “not to hesitate to make the correct decision when it is not possible to determine the true will of the voters, whether by fully annulling this stage of the elections or partially canceling it in one or more constituencies, provided that the elections for those areas are held at a later date.”
He further requested that the authority publicize the measures taken in response to electoral campaign violations, “to ensure effective monitoring of the campaigns, prevent them from exceeding legal boundaries, and avoid recurrence in the remaining election rounds.”
Voting in the 19 previously annulled districts will now be repeated, with overseas ballots scheduled for 1 – 2 December, domestic voting on 3 – 4 December, and results expected on 11 December.
The first phase of the parliamentary vote saw 1,281 individual candidates compete across 70 districts in 14 governorates, with 35 million voters eligible to cast ballots at 5,606 polling stations.