Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi has cast his vote in the second phase of House of Representatives elections that began inside Egypt on Saturday.
Around 9,468 polling stations in 13 governorates, including the capital, opened on Saturday morning, for Egyptians to cast their vote in the second stage. Aside from Cairo, other governorates in which residents will cast their votes include: Qaliubiya, Daqahleya, Menoufiya, Gharbeya, Kafr El-Sheikh, Sharqeya, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai, and South Sinai.
Several high-level officials voted in the second phase of the elections, including: Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry; Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar; Minister of Environment Yasmine Fouad; Minister of State for Information Osama Heikal; Minister of Trade and Industry Nevine Gamea; Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa; and Head of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Tawadros II.
The elections will continue in these governorates until Sunday, with the second stage having already concluded for Egyptian expats on Friday. Run-offs will be held on 7-8 December.
In a press statement, Cairo Governor Khaled Abdel-Aal said that coordination has been made with all relevant authorities and agencies in the country to hold the House of Representatives elections, in light of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
He said that all the committees are applying the government-mandated precautionary measures, and that they have been provided with medical supplies, whether sterilisation gates, face masks or other supplies. Wearing face masks and adhering to social distancing measures are among the mandatory precautions that have been implemented during the election.
Abdel-Aal praised what he described as the massive turnout by citizens to participate in the House of Representatives elections, and their presence at polling stations even before the election commissions opened.
Four electoral committees in Sheikh Zuweid in North Sinai witnessed a heavy voter turnout. The committees include 20 sub-committees from Rafah and Sheikh Zuweid.
The large turnout was attributed to the increasing competition between candidates in the first district, which includes Al-Arish, Sheikh Zuweid, and Rafah, in which 19 candidates are competing. The eligible voters in Sheikh Zuwaid reached 33,400 voters, with 37,490 voters in Rafah.
High turnout was also recorded in the Kafr El-Sheikh governorate to cast their votes on the first day of the second phase. The committees also witnessed a heavy security presence, while young men and women spread out in front of the committees to help the elderly enter committees to cast their votes.
Kafr El-Sheikh Governor Jamal Noureddine cast his vote, and noted the implementation of precautionary measures. He also called on citizens to flock to the committees to cast their votes in the elections.
In the second phase, around 31 million voters in 13 governorates will be able to vote on the remaining 284 seats in the House of Representatives which comprises 142 individual seats and 142 party list seats.
On 24 October, Egyptians voted in the first phase of the elections in which the electoral list led by the Mostaqbal Watan Party swept up the majority of votes.
