Cash coupons exchangeable for votes amid ‘meager’ Senate election turnout in Cairo

After handing in their ballots for Senate nominees on Monday and Tuesday, voters at polling stations in Cairo were given coupons to exchange for cash sums worth LE200 to LE300, three sources who participated in facilitating or mobilizing voter turnout told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity.

Polling stations closed to citizens participating in the 2025 Senate elections on Tuesday night, bringing to end a 48-hour voting period that several election supervisors at districts in Cairo said witnessed “meager” turnout.

Observers have anticipated that the elections will reproduce a win for the Nation’s Future Party, which held a majority in both chambers of Parliament in the 2020-2025 session, while early reports suggest the party performed well in multiple governorates.

Many voters at district stations were mobilized by civil society organizations working closely with the Nation’s Future Party, two representatives from participating organizations said.

Security agencies instructed the organizations to mobilize beneficiaries of their services to vote, an organization director in the Marg area told Mada Masr. In return, the organizations gave voters coupons redeemable for cash sums ranging from LE200 to LE300, depending on the area.

A source in the Nation's Future Party said that the party hired an advertising agency for this year’s elections, which coordinated closely with civil society organizations to overcome criticism of the practice of using food cartons to mobilize voter turnout that has plagued the party in previous election cycles.

This year, civil society organizations acted as an “intermediary” between the party and voters under directives from security bodies, the Marg charity director said.

The Nation’s Future Marg office compiled voter lists for the district, printing each voter's name, polling station, and registration and station numbers onto white coupons, which were then handed over to civil society organizations to distribute to their beneficiaries the day before the vote, the charity director said.

The organizations asked voters to hand in their white coupons after casting their ballots and, in exchange, the voter would be given a green or yellow voucher on which the same information was handwritten, the director continued. The voter would finally present the voucher to a party representative and collect the agreed-upon sum of cash.

“The voter casts their ballot in a minute and receives the money within half an hour to two hours,” the director said.

They described the charity organizations' role as “organizing the process and reducing the chances of manipulation,” adding, “I know the people of the area; the party doesn't.”

An employee of another charity in Manshiyet Nasser described the organization they worked for as playing the same electoral function, saying, “Organizations are the ones that gather people and distribute the money to them,” and citing cash sums of up to LE200.

A deputy chair of the Administrative Prosecution Authority who participated in supervising voting in Cairo said a voter had told them that those who cast ballots on the first day received LE300, while those who voted on the second day were given LE200.

The official added that from their post outside a polling station, they observed that most voters were elderly or low-income citizens, many of whom approached them to ask where they could redeem their vouchers.

The station, where 10,000 voters were registered, recorded over 850 voters on the first day, the official said, while only 200 voters had shown up by 4 pm on the second day.

The National Election Authority is expected to announce the final results on August 12, after counting both domestic and overseas ballots. All electoral procedures, including the announcement of final results, are scheduled to conclude by September 4.

While the National Front Party — a new political entity headed by former Housing Minister Essam al-Gazzar and funded by fugitive-turned-businessman Ibrahim al-Argany — made a splash in the media last year after its launch, its debut in this summer’s Senate elections largely complimented the electoral dominance of Nation’s Future, with various National Front candidates running on electoral lists compiled by Nation’s Future.

Of the 300 Senate seats, 100 go to nominees who run on four, closed multi-candidate lists nationwide for which voters can cast their ballot. Only 100 go to nominees elected individually, while the final 100 seats are appointed by the president himself.

The Nation's Future Party described the Senate elections as a strong comeback for the party on the electoral scene.

The prosecution official described a strong presence from party members among polling station monitors and officials during the two days of voting in Cairo.

The Manshiyet Nasser charity employee also described the party as “providing microbuses to transport voters. It all wraps up quickly,” they said.

When the second organization director Mada Masr spoke with in Marg was asked about their organization’s position on other parties, especially those affiliated with the government, the director said, “No one knows them. The Nation’s Future Party is the nation itself.”