Egyptians return to vote as election run-off begins
A woman casts her vote during parliamentary elections at a polling station in Giza governorate, Egypt.
Egyptians returned to polling stations on Tuesday as a first round run-off got underway in a parliamentary vote after a low turnout during the first round of voting earlier last week.
The first round of vote held in 14 of Egypt’s 27 provinces last week garnered a voter turnout of just 26.6 percent and there was no immediate sign that more voters were casting their ballots on Tuesday.
One polling station in the capital’s central district of Dokki saw 20 people vote in the hour after polling opened at 9:00 am (0700 GMT), a polling officer said.
Only four candidates were elected in the first round of voting.
The second round across 13 remaining provinces will be held on November 22-23. A run-off, if necessary, will be held on December 1-2.
The previous general election held in late 2011, months after the ouster of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak, saw a turnout of 62 percent.
The subsequent parliament, dominated by Islamists led by the Muslim Brotherhood, was dissolved in June 2012, days before the election of Mohamed Mursi as the country’s first freely elected civilian leader.
Mursi was deposed a year later by then army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi after mass street protests against his sole year in power.
Sisi’s supporters expect the new 596-member parliament to rubber-stamp his decisions, while experts say it will largely work on its own agenda.
“People are disappointed after so much political turmoil. The political system must take steps to encourage voting,” engineer Abdel Rahman Suweid said after casting his vote in Dokki.
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