Lions, donkeys and liars: Social media on election day

Voting related posts on social media have been mixed since the second stage of Egypt’s parliamentary elections kicked off on Sunday.

Some users have been claiming polling stations are full, despite media claims to the contrary, while others say nobody went.

Election symbols have been a source of amusement for social media users, with one candidate allegedly using a real miserable lion in a tiny cage on the back of a truck for his campaign.

The most widely used hashtags have been, “Parliamentary Elections,” “Vote,” “Take a picture of your polling station to expose the media” and “Nobody went again.” All of which have been used both seriously and sarcastically.

One user tweeted a picture of a boy beating a donkey, with a naked man pulling the donkey into a river and the hashtag, “#Vote,” in reference to persistent calls for people to vote in this round, following low turnout in the first stage.

Other users took the "vote" hashtag more seriously, tweeting pictures of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi voting and encouraging others to join him.

Another trending hashtag has been, “Take a picture of your polling station to expose the media,” with users posting pictures of crowded polling stations in order to counter rumors of a low turnout.

“But be specific [about the polling station] and debunk the media businessmen,” one user urged, while another said, “You become the alternative media and defend your country.”

Countering this, others posted images of empty polls with the hashtag, “Nobody went again.” One user tweeted, “I swear to God the important polls are empty, there isn’t anyone, is anyone voting?”

The hashtag “Nobody went” also trended during the first stage of the parliamentary elections, which saw 26 percent of voters cast their ballots in the first round and 21 percent in the runoff, according to the High Elections Commission.