Polling stations opened at 9:00 AM Saturday, marking the first day of receiving voters wishing to cast their ballots in the runoff of the first round of the parliamentary elections.
This runoff is taking place in 19 electoral districts spread across 7 governorates.
The runoff sees a competition between 70 candidates for 35 individual seats in the parliament, with a total of 1,694 polling stations. The electoral process is being overseen by judicial bodies’ consultants and will continue over two consecutive days, with monitoring by various civil society organizations and local and international media outlets.
The consultants from the State Lawsuit Authority and the Administrative Prosecution Authority, who are the heads of the polling stations, took charge of the stations early in the morning.
They conducted inspections to ensure that all necessary supplies were in place for the election process, especially concerning the documents, records, procedural minutes, and voter lists. They also opened the ballot boxes to ensure they were completely empty before sealing them with special plastic security locks.
Police forces were present to secure the polling stations and their surroundings, ensuring a safe environment for voters to cast their ballots in peace.
The National Election Authority has taken several measures to make it easier for citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote, especially for the elderly and people with disabilities.
These include placing most polling stations on the ground floors of election centers, providing centers with signage containing QR codes so voters can scan them with their mobile phones for additional information on voting rules and procedures.
Additionally, informational materials have been provided to make the voting process easier.
The National Election Authority also issued a ballot card in sign language to help those with hearing impairments understand the election process.
A Braille ballot card is also available for those with visual impairments, including election guidelines to aid them in casting their votes correctly. Each ballot card also includes a note on the number of seats to be selected in each district to ensure voters select the correct number of candidates and avoid invalidating their vote.
The National Election Authority had previously issued a decision on November 18, to annul the elections for individual seats in 19 electoral districts across 7 governorates, part of the 14 governorates making up the first phase of the parliamentary elections.
This decision called for a re-run of the elections, starting from the last correct procedure, which was the electoral campaign. The first round of voting abroad was held on December 1 and 2, while voting within Egypt took place on December 3 and 4.
