CAIRO: The head of the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) said Thursday that rumors about alleged election rigging by judges is the most disturbing issue he is facing today.
"I heard rumors like that about judges in Ismailia and Sharqiya so I immediately contacted the heads of the courts there and all the rumors turned out to be incorrect," said Abdel Moez Ibrahim, adding that such rumors aim at severing trust between the judges and citizens.
"If people lose trust in judges, the country will fall apart," he added.
Ibrahim stressed that accusation against judges must be supported by evidence.
"I received a lot of inquires and complaints that some judges refuse to help voters who cannot read because they are afraid they might be accused of forging votes," he said.
Before elections, he added, judges were asked to attest in writing that they are not relatives of any candidate in the constituency where they are posted or members of any political party running in that area.
"If the opposite is proven [true], this will be regarded as a forgery case," he said.
Responding to a question about a grievance filed by three judges who complained that they were not asked to supervise elections, Ibrahim explained that these were cases of conflict of interest since the said judges are members of the administrative court which arbitrates complaints against the SEC.
"They cannot be assigned to rule on appeals against us when they are working for us," he said.
The SEC is also dealing with violations from candidates who continue campaigning on election day, “despite all the measures taken to prevent this," he said.
While some candidates were referred to the public prosecution for campaigning, he said, “to disqualify them I need to have documents or an official complaint to present to the Supreme Administrative Court.”
Ibrahim said that the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) rejected a proposal to count ballots in sub-committees instead of general committees for security reasons, especially in villages where he said violence may erupt if candidates find out that they lost.
Moreover, extending voting for two hours will be compulsory by law if any citizen is within the boundaries of the polling station.
"The count will begin immediately after the voting process and there is no date for when the count will be completed; we are not in a hurry," he said.
The announcement of the results, he added, will be immediately after the completion of vote-counting.
