Egyptian expatriates took to the ballot boxes again, with voting in runoffs for Egypt’s Senate kicking off on Sunday. Voting for expatriates is set to finish on Monday. Runoff voting is scheduled to take place in Egypt on 8-9 September, with the results of the voting set to be announced on 16 September.
During the first round, seats were won by a pro-government coalition led by the Mostaqbal Watan Party, while other parties, whose nominees failed to obtain the necessary absolute majority, were distributed over 14 governorates.
A total of 174 senators, representing different constituencies nationwide, were officially named last month after receiving the majority of votes during the first round of elections. A total of 26 seats, however, remain up for grabs.
In the first round, only 8.95 million out of a total 62.94 million eligible voters cast their ballots during the four-day voting period in August, representing a total turnout of 14.23%. Valid votes reached 7.5 million, or 84.58% of the voter turnout. A total of 1.38 million, or 15.42%, of votes were invalid.
The Senate, which was created in accordance with constitutional amendments approved last year, will act as an advisory chamber to the House of Representatives. It will sit in place of the Shura Council, the upper house of parliament that was dissolved in 2014.
Two-thirds of the members are elected via the individual candidacy and closed party list systems, with the rest to be appointed by the President. The first session of the Senate is set to be held in October, with its first five-year term due to end in 2025.
