CAIRO: Voters in South Cairo said that religious polarization was evident at the polling stations, amid a high turnout of Coptic voters and excessive campaigning by the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.
"The FJP were campaigning intensively in front of the polling station and they assigned some people affiliated to them to help voters who cannot read. They might have even directed them to choose their own candidates," said a female voter who preferred to remain anonymous at Othman Ibn Affan polling station at Mazra’et Al-Bat district in Maadi.
At another polling station in Maadi, Rasha Abdel-Moneim said that while she did not notice any FJP campaigners, she noticed that a lot of voters were holding their pamphlets.
"I saw some FJP representatives telling people which candidates to choose," said Ghada Fathy voter at Asmaa Al-Thanaweya polling station in Tora.
Mohamed Al-Saman, a candidate on Al-Wasat Party’s list in the fourth constituency, told Daily News Egypt that the army securing the polling stations was firm in barring campaigners from promoting their parties.
"The campaigns might have been seen at polling stations that are not in main streets," he added.
Al-Saman said there was a noticeably high turnout of Coptic voters.
“Although they are voting on a sectarian basis, their presence is a healthy phenomenon," he said, pointing out that next time they will vote for the candidates they see more suitable.
The Free Egyptians Party, founded by Coptic business mogul Naguib Sawiris, issued a statement before election day urging Copts to liberate themselves from the guardianship imposed on them by certain institutions and asked them to vote for the candidate they deem more suitable and not to mix politics with religion.
The statement was a response to leaked news that the Coptic Church is calling on Copts to vote for certain candidates on a sectarian basis.
Other campaigners present at the polling stations belonged to Al-Mohafezeen Party, which includes remnants of the former regime.
Repetitive delays
A number of judges supervising stations in the fourth constituency, which includes Maadi and Al-Tebeen districts, were hours late, according to Al-Saman.
At other polling stations the ballots had not yet been delivered as voters queued outside.
"The ballots at some polling stations in Maadi Al-Thanawaya School were mistakenly sent to Nasr City and vice versa," Al-Saman told DNE during his tour in the constituency.
Abdel-Moneim confirmed that ballots were delivered late at her polling station.
"Some ballots were not stamped but later the judge decided to sign them," she added.
Older voters had some objections.
"We do not have a polling station specifically for senior citizens so we have to take permission from other voters in the queue to go to the front because we cannot stand for too long," said a voter who preferred to remain anonymous at one of Tora’s polling stations.
"Some of those senior citizens came to vote because they are afraid of the LE 500 fine if they fail to vote," Fathy said, adding that they do not even know the candidates they will vote for and are asking others about their selected candidates.
There is a sharp socio-economic contrast between Cairo’s southern constituencies which on the one hand include Maadi, one of Egypt’s richest neighborhoods, and on the other, Tora, where figures of the former regime are now imprisoned and Helwan, Sayeda Zeinab, Al-Mokattam, Al-Khalifa and Al-Qalaa districts.
The constituency was long acknowledged as a winning bet for the remnants of the former regime.
Sayeda Zeinab was long represented by Fathi Sorour, the former Speaker of the People’s Assembly and member of the disbanded National Democratic Party.
Ministry of State for Military Production Sayed Meshaal was also a safe bet for Helwan.
Fourteen parties are vying for 10 seats through the party lists system. In the south constituency 125 candidates are competing over the individual seats while 130 are contesting the north constituency.
