Low turnout in parliamentary runoff despite state incentives to vote

A lower turnout for Egypt’s parliamentary election runoff, which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, was reported than in the first round on November 18 and 19.

Wednesday was the second day of the runoff vote in 103 circuits across 14 (out of 27) governorates.

The results of the second round will be officially announced on Thursday, according to the High Elections Commission (HEC) spokesperson Omar Marwan.

The HEC reported turnout for the first round of elections at 26.56 percent, the lowest since the anti-Mubarak uprising in 2011. And participation appears to be on the decline, despite state incentives to vote.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pleaded with voters to take part in these elections, and public sector employees were given half a day off on Wednesday, as they were in the first round.

Authorities also announced a LE500 fine for non-voters, although such fines have never been enforced in the past.

Speaking to the state-owned Middle East News Agency (MENA), Marwan asserted that “poor weather conditions” and “heavy rainfall in some areas” resulted in a lower turnout than was expected.

Several violations were reported on Wednesday, including delays in opening 23 polling stations, and the arrest and referral to prosecution of two women attempting to vote more than once in Kerdasa and 6th of October City, both in the Giza Governorate.

Marwan told local media outlets on Tuesday that a total of 60 electoral complaints had been filed with the HEC. Most are reportedly in relation to the late opening of polling stations, obstructions outside polls and unlawful campaigning.

The privately owned Al-Wafd news portal reported that three polling stations experienced electricity outages in the central governorate of Beni Suef on Wednesday evening.

Al-Wafd also reported that the rate of voter turnout increased in the southern governorates of Luxor and Assiut in the afternoon and evening on Wednesday, particularly among female voters.

Turnout was also lower than for the first time round in the expatriate runoff vote, which took place on 26 and 27 October.

According to the HEC, a total of 30,531 expat voters participated during the first stage of voting on November 17 and 18, out of a total of more than 600,000 eligible voters.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hamdy Lozza, told MENA that nearly 20,000 expats took part in the runoff elections, with the highest number of voters, 10,000, in Kuwait.

In neighboring Sudan, a low turnout was reported. Egyptian Ambassador to Sudan Osama Shaltout told MENA that only 69 voters had cast their ballots as of Tuesday evening.

Only four individual candidates (out of a total of 2,548 candidates running in the first phase) secured seats in the first round, while 222 seats are being contested in the runoff.

The pro-government For the Love of Egypt electoral list swept the vote for parties and lists in the first round of voting in Upper Egypt and the Western Nile Delta.