No election related violations have been detected on the second day of Egypt’s Senate polls, said Mohamed Abdel Aziz, a member of the Coordination of Youth Parties and Politicians, on Wednesday.
Speaking at a press conference, Abdel Aziz noted that no violations were recorded that impacted upon the electoral process. However, some individual candidates were found to be in violation of electoral silence, which calls upon all candidates and parties to refrain from campaigning at least 24 hours before the start of polling.
He added that some individual candidates were found handing out campaigning flyers and other election-related ads in front of polling stations, even as voting got underway.
Abdel Aziz also called for providing voter education to citizens, so that they can make an informed choice in the voting booth.
He added the Coordination’s operations room has continued to follow up on the electoral process during the second day of the Senate elections. This was undertaken through the coordination with observers based at various electoral committees.
“We have not received any delay in opening ballot stations, as there was full commitment to the decisions of the National Elections Authority (NEA) in this regard,” Abdel Aziz said.
The NEA reported that the second day of voting saw an increased number of voters in some ballot stations across Egypt compared to the first day.
Polling stations in Sheikh Zayed and 6th of October cities witnessed no violations in the electoral process on the second day of voting, with moderate turnout.
Voter turnout increased in Cairo’s downtown area, amid a noticeable deployment of security personnel to prevent any traffic jams in the streets at Qasr El-Aini, Al-A’asaf, and Bulaq Abu Al-Ela districts.
Media outlets also reported an increase in the numbers of young people coming to vote, compared to the first day of polling. Youth groups in Cairo’s Azbakeya and Abdeen regions came out in force to help the elderly enter polling stations.
Damietta governorate’s Central Operations Room reported that the electrical process remained regular at all polling stations.
The Daqahleya Operations Room recorded moderate turnout in Mansoura and other cities in the governorate. Senior Egyptian citizens dominated the scene in front of polling stations in the governorate, with security forces personnel providing wheelchairs to help them reach committees to cast their votes.
Beheira Governor Hisham Amna, who carried out inspection tour of the electoral process in the governorate, said that he found high turnout at several polling stations.
About 63 million Egyptians were eligible to vote in the Senate elections, distributed across just over 14,000 sub-committees. A total of 18,000 judges and 120,000 employees assisted in the Senate elections process.
According to the final list, a total of 787 candidates are running in the individual system in 27 provinces for 100 seats.
