Voter turnout in Egypt’s parliamentary elections slightly increased on the second and final day of the first phase of elections, in the last four hours before polling stations closed, observed Maat’s local international joint mission in its final report for Monday.
“Most polling stations closed slightly after the scheduled time around 9 pm, and a few lasted for another hour. In Minya, local authorities pulled last minute efforts in improving traffic and guidance to voters, a few hours before closing time,” Maat’s report said.
The mission also observed problems with the presence of candidate supporters inside polling stations, reporting in Minya that one was arrested and another kicked out of a polling station.
Clashes between supporters of various candidates also took place in Beheira, involving Al-Nour Party supporters. In Al-Haram in Giza, a citizen was injured in similar disputes, and in Beni Suef security forces ended a conflict between supporters.
Once more, electoral bribes were distributed, most prominently in Alexandria, but also in Beheira and Fayoum, with sums ranging from EGP 50 to up to EGP 500. The report added that a candidate supporter in Alexandria was arrested while bribing voters.
Another Al-Nour Party supporter was arrested for trying to vote twice. The joint report was issued by the international observation mission in Egypt, including the COMESA delegation, the Global Network for Rights and Development (GNRD), the International Institute for Peace, Justice and Human Rights (IIPJHR), working alongside the Maat foundation. A final report will be issued on Wednesday.
Political parties also reported violations observed during the elections. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP) issued its final report for the second day, reporting similar proportions of electoral bribes as Maat.
“Alexandria and Assiut witnessed the highest rates in bribes,” reported the ESDP, adding that sums of EGP 50 were distributed in Alexandria and EGP 200 in Assiut. In Assiut, the ESDP also reported an incident where judges were prevented by security forces from entering a number of polling stations because they did not have identification.
The Socialist Popular Alliance Party (SPAP) also reported that its candidate in Alexandria, Moataz El-Shenawy, sent telegraphs to the Prosecutor General, the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) on voters’ bribes and the “unjustified silence to such violations by those supervising the process, which question the transparency of elections”.
