Polls reopened in several areas in Egypt on Sunday for the second and final voting day domestically for the new House of Representatives elections first stage, which are held amid strict preventive measures against the coronavirus pandemic.
Poll stations reopened in 14 governorates at 9 am and will close at 9 pm.The National Election Authority (NEA) said it has not received complaints of violations related to the voting process on Saturday.
The governorates included in the voting were Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, El-Wadi El-Gedid, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira and Matrouh.The results of the first round will be announced by 1 November at the latest.
Many older people in the northern Beheira governorate were keen to participate in the elections to vote for their candidates.
Beheira has more than nine constituencies and four million people who are entitled to vote in the House elections. As many as 214 candidates in the governorate are competing on 18 parliamentary seats.The first stage of run-offs will be held on 21-23 November for Egyptians abroad, and on 23-24 November at home. The final results will be declared on 30 November at the latest.
The total number of eligible voters in Egypt is 63 million, out of a population of 100 million. The eligible voters in the first stage are estimated at nearly 33 million.
The new House election is the second to be held in Egypt amid the coronavirus pandemic, the first being the Senate vote, which was held in August.
Almost 4,000 individual candidates and eight coalition lists are competing over 568 seats in this election.
A total of 284 seats will be up for grabs in the first stage, with half – 142 seats – allocated for individual candidates, and the other half for party lists.
The second phase will see a first round on 7-8 November and run-offs on 7-8 December.
The pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party, which currently holds majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, is fielding 284 candidates, the largest number from any party.
The party is contesting all 143 individual districts as well as the four party list districts in the race.
The number of women running in this election has increased from previous times. The Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights says 627 women participate in the elections among a total of 4,006 candidates, representing 8.6 percent of candidates.
The female candidates include 303 independent candidates, 280 others on list system and 44 candidates who are part of political parties.
