Counsel Ahmed Bandari, Director of the Executive Body of the National Elections Authority, confirmed that voters who were present before nine o’clock in the evening within the electoral centers, will all be enabled to cast their votes, no matter how long it takes, and the polling committees will not begin the work of counting votes before the last voter present in the Election Assembly has finished voting.
This came in a press conference held by Counselor Ahmed Bandari, at the end of the second and final day of voting for individual seats in 30 constituencies. The director of the executive branch of the National Elections Authority said that the authority received 18 complaints today from citizens about the presence of overcrowding in a number of polling stations, the practice of propaganda work outside some electoral centers, directing voters and offering them electoral bribes to push them to elect specific candidates, in addition to 6 complaints submitted by political parties. He added that all these complaints were examined and investigated, and directions were given to take the necessary legal action regarding the facts that were proven to be true in some of them and to remove the reasons for the complaint, stressing that these complaints did not affect the conduct of the vote or its safety.
Counsel Ahmed Bandari asked the heads of the follow-up committees in the ten governorates in which this electoral round was held, to prepare a comprehensive report that includes the number of police reports that were written over the course of the election day regarding the electoral violations that occurred within the scope of each governorate. The severity, the facts included in each report, and the legal measures taken regarding those reports before the competent judicial investigation authorities, until the report is presented to the Board of Directors of the National Elections Authority to take the necessary measures in light of the provisions of the law.
He indicated that the door to submitting complaints is open to candidates in this electoral round, so that they may submit them documented before the general electoral commissions during the grievances period specified by law.
He pointed out that the candidate’s agent who holds a notarized power of attorney is the one who has the right to attend work. Counting the votes of voters and obtaining a copy of the minutes of their numerical tally, while the role of the candidate’s representative is limited to following the events of the election day and is not entitled to attend the vote counting operations. Once again, we recall that the announcement issued by the general electoral committees is a numerical count of the votes only, while the announcement of the result will be known by the National Elections Authority alone.
Councilor Ahmed Bandari held meetings with the heads of the governorate committees via (video conference) technology, who confirmed that a number of polling committees are still continuing to vote. Work, in light of the presence of voters before nine o’clock in the evening inside the headquarters of the electoral centers and within the scope of the Election Association for those centers.
The heads of the follow-up committees in the governorates of Minya, Sohag and Luxor indicated that the police forces were able to arrest a number of people in the vicinity of some of the sub-polling committees, and wrote the necessary reports regarding the acts of electoral violations that they committed, explaining that the reports included the incidents of the accused directing voters and distributing electoral propaganda cards and sums of money in order to push voters to choose specific candidates in the process. On a related note, Counselor Ahmed Bandari, Director of the Executive Branch of the National Elections Authority, said that the runoff round for the second phase of the elections will begin next week, indicating that this round will include 55 electoral districts distributed over 13 governorates.
Counselor Ahmed Bandari thanked the advisors of the State Cases Commission and the Administrative Prosecution for their efforts in supervising the elections, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the heads of Egyptian diplomatic missions abroad for empowering Egyptians. Abroad, they can exercise their constitutional rights and participate in the elections.
The Director of the Executive Branch of the National Elections Authority also thanked the Ministry of the Interior, noting that the police made strenuous efforts to secure the ballot and voters as best as possible, and implement the rule of law with discipline and high professionalism in decisively addressing all complaints related to electoral violations.
He also praised the political parties and their interaction with the National Elections Authority and their commitment to the controls of the electoral process, and expressed his thanks. Appreciation goes to newspaper and media representatives for their coverage of the electoral process, and to the general electorate for their positive and active participation in the House of Representatives elections in its multiple rounds.
It is noteworthy that the holding of this electoral round comes in light of the judicial rulings issued by the Supreme Administrative Court of the State Council on November 29 last, canceling the electoral process in 30 districts and ordering it to be repeated after the last correct procedure, which is electoral propaganda.
