For the second day, Egyptian embassies abroad continued Thursday receiving ballot papers from expats voting in the second stage of Egypt s parliamentary elections, in a race heavily fielded by a coalition led by the Mostaqbal Watan Party.
Around 140 polling stations in embassies and consulates in 124 countries opened for mail-in voting by Egyptians abroad.
The second stage of the elections covers 13 governorates, including Cairo, Qalyubiya, Dakahliya, Menoufiya, Gharbiya, Kafr El-Sheikh, Sharqiya, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai and South Sinai.
Expat voters select candidates from the individual list system depending on their electoral district, and others from the closed list system.
Registered voters abroad were asked to print their ballot papers on Monday and Tuesday by entering their registration code on the National Election Authority (NEA) website.
Both ballot papers must be placed in envelopes with a voter declaration, photocopies of the voter’s national ID card or passport, and residency documents.
The papers must be sent via express mail to the electoral committee of their country’s diplomatic mission.
Embassies will close their doors Friday, 9pm local time, to begin the vote count.
Around 2,085 candidates are competing for 70 individual seats, while 284 candidates are competing under the list system in two districts. Second stage voting at home is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with the results to be announced 15 November.
The results of the first stage of the parliamentary elections were announced Sunday. Only 32 MPs were named after receiving the absolute majority of votes during that round, while the other 220 seats are still up for grabs in a run-off to be held later this month.
