Egypt: The Effects of Egypt’s Election Law | The Middle East Channel

Egyptians have finally begun to learn the rules that will govern their first post-revolutionary parliamentary elections, scheduled to begin on November 28. The election law announced by the Supreme Council for the Armed Forces (SCAF) is remarkably complicated, generating great confusion both inside and outside of Egypt. Those poorly understood rules will play an important role in shaping the results — and are already pushing the Egyptian party scene into a polarized competition between Islamist and secular blocs, with independents somewhere in the middle with no clear political or economic agenda.

The electoral system that the SCAF has chosen for the forthcoming election is a departure from Egypt’s historical practice. Egyptian elections have typically been governed by a majoritarian system in smaller constituencies (222 in total). Such a system traditionally made voting a choice between individual candidates rather than parties’ programs, which put a premium on coming from a strong local tribe or from a wealthy background. The small size of constituencies made this possible because it increased the electoral weight of extended families and tribes, especially in rural constituencies.

Egypt: A guide to Egypt’s first post-revolution elections | IRIN Middle East

Millions of Egyptians will head to the polls on 28 November in the first parliamentary vote after a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. The elections end decades of what was effectively one-party rule and will establish a parliament to lead the drafting of a new constitution within a year. If approved in a subsequent referendum, this constitution will shape Egypt’s future.

But few Egyptians understand the complex election system or know what the parties represent. “The election system is really confusing,” Saed Abdel Hafez, chairman of the local NGO, Forum for Development and Human Rights Dialogue, told IRIN. “Because people do not understand the system, they will most likely vote for the people or the powers they used to vote for in the past. This means that the next parliament will not reflect the new political realities created by the revolution.”

Egypt: Those who cannot vote | Al Jazeera

As Egypt prepares to begin what activists hope will be a new era in democracy – which promises to be as confusing as it is monumental – the first democratic elections in a country with more than 6,000 years of history are starting this month. There has been a flurry of stories on issues facing candidates – charges of discrimination against female candidates, the questionable efficacy of a ban on preventing those with ties to deposed President Hosni Mubarak’s National Democratic Party from running etc. But little is known about a list of names, a list that some say is nearly 30,000 names long, identifying people who have been prohibited from voting due to past criminal convictions.

Disenfranchising former convicts is stipulated by Egyptian law – and many other countries have similar regulations when it comes to who can and cannot vote. And In a nation of more than 80 million, disenfranchising a few thousand might not seem like a big deal. However, voters’ rights advocates take issue with two elements with the mechanism by which tens of thousands of criminal record holders are prohibited from voting in the upcoming parliamentary elections: The lack of transparency and the fact that the process relies on a database which seems to have no way of exempting former political prisoners from the list of banned voters.

Canada: Canada urges Egypt to allow international monitors for elections | The Vancouver Sun

Canada is pressing Egypt’s interim rulers to overturn a ban on international monitors as the North African country prepares for parliamentary elections next month that will set the tone for democracy there and in the region. Egyptians will begin going to the polls on Nov. 28 to elect their first Parliament since a wave of protests ousted former president Hosni Mubarak in February.

The elections will be held in three stages lasting until March, with the winners coming together to draft the country’s first post-Mubarak constitution. A presidential election is expected in late 2012 or early 2013. A senior Foreign Affairs official told Parliament’s Foreign Affairs committee on Tuesday the three-month parliamentary elections represent a critical period in Egypt’s transition to democracy and, “like the rest of the world, Canada is watching closely.

Egypt: Courts grant expats voting rights for national elections | Bikya Masr

Egyptian courts decided today to allow Egyptian nationals living abroad to vote in national elections. Egypt will set up voting centers at embassies abroad to allow expat nationals to vote for parliamentary elections.

The decision comes pending approval from Egypt’s interim ruling government, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). Egyptians living abroad could change the face of Egyptian elections, as their numbers near an estimated 8 million people. Social networking sites have lit up with celebrations regarding the announcement, as expats congratulate one another for their long-awaited political gain.

Egypt: Fears of Mubarak allies as Egypt prepares elections | Reuters

Candidates registering on Wednesday for Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since the overthrown of the autocratic Hosni Mubarak said they feared Mubarak loyalists would sneak their way onto the candidate lists. Essam Said, registering as a candidate in Giza west of Cairo Wednesday, said veterans of Mubarak’s now disbanded National Democratic Party (NDP) would get themselves included on party lists because running as independents would make them easier to identify.

“The NDP people are hiding themselves inside the party lists,” he said, adding that he knew one former NDP legislator who planned to stand as a candidate for the liberal Wafd party. Under election rules set after Mubarak’s overthrow, two thirds of the lower house will be elected via the party lists covering entire regions, the rest as individuals in smaller constituencies. The rules are designed to stop old Mubarak loyalists, many of them wealthy notables with enduring local influence, returning to formal politics.

Egypt: Journalists undergo training on election coverage

Training on election coverage – The UN Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and The New York Times Knowledge Network are collaborating to train Tunisian, Egyptian, Moroccan, US and French journalists on covering elections in their respective countries.

A statement by UNAOC on Tuesday, stated: ‘Ahead of the imminent elections in Tunisia and Egypt, UNAOC is working with The New York Times Knowledge Network, which offers online adult and continuing education opportunities, to provide a six-week online course to Tunisian, Egyptian, Moroccan, French and American journalists and journalism students.’ It said that, ‘each of the aforementioned countries is expected to enter major parliamentary or presidential elections in the next 12 months.

Egypt: Egypt’s presidential hopefuls want early vote | Reuters

A group of six presidential hopefuls said on Wednesday they wanted Egypt’s first free election to be held in April, far earlier than the timetable envisaged by the ruling military council. Egypt’s generals have not set a date but, under a timetable that involves a parliamentary vote followed by drawing up a new constitution, analysts said the presidential race may not happen until the end of 2012 or early 2013.

Many Egyptians suspect that the military council, which took control after Hosni Mubarak was driven from office, may want to hold on to power from behind the scenes even after handing over day-to-day affairs to the government. The military denies any such intentions. Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi on Wednesday also dismissed talk that the military might propose a candidate for the presidency.

“Don’t let this drag on, so that we don’t lose all hope,” Hazim Salah Abou Ismail, one of the six hopefuls, told a news conference, where representatives of the group announced their demands.

Egypt: Muslim Brotherhood and friends stick to their deal with SCAF despite uproar | Ahram Online

Sixty political parties assembled on Sunday at the headquarters of the liberal Wafd party to discuss the meeting which took place between 13 parties and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) over the weekend. At the end, the majority of the parties declared their insistence on abiding by a much criticised agreement they reached with the military council.

While the liberal Egyptian Social Democratic Party did not sign the agreement on Saturday for technical reasons, its representative Mohamed Abou El-Ghar confirmed Monday the party’s agreement with the deal, assuring others that his signature will follow shortly. The signed agreement between some political parties and SCAF created an internal upheaval within almost every single party that signed on.

Egypt: Egypt to start parliamentary vote on November 21: Al-Ahram | Reuters

Ahram newspaper reported on Saturday, the country’s first vote since a popular uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak in February after 30 years of autocratic rule.

Al-Ahram quoted Egypt’s election commission head, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, as saying voting for the lower house, the People’s Assembly, will be held in three stages starting on November 21 and ending on January 3. Voting for the upper house, the Shura Council, will begin on January 22, 2012 and finish on March 4. Election commission officials were not immediately available to comment on the reports and an army source said the date would be announced in the coming days.

Egypt: Parties want Mubarak allies barred from vote | Reuters

Political parties have called on Egypt’s military rulers to ensure that figures associated with the government of ousted President Hosni Mubarak cannot run in parliamentary elections expected this year.

The military council that took over from Mubarak after street protests forced him to stand down in February has said it will hold a parliamentary vote this year, although a statement earlier this week announcing plans for voter registration did not mention any dates.

“The members of the coalition insist on changes to the parliamentary elections law and a law that would prevent the return of remnants of the former regime,” a coalition of 17 groups, including the leading Islamist Muslim Brotherhood group, said in a statement late on Tuesday.

Egypt: Army warned of election delay | The Egyptian Gazette

Muslim fundamentalists are warning that they are ready to shed their blood in Tahrir Square, if the Military Council decides to delay parliamentary elections due in November. Egypt’s fundamentalists have also announced September 27 as the date for an end to the transitional period in post-revolution Egypt.

Since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted on February 11, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has been ruling the nation; it is also responsible for supervising the transfer of power to a civil government and an elected president.

It was the Muslim Brotherhood, who threw down the gauntlet to the army generals during a mass rally organised in Alexandria, widely regarded as a bastion for Egypt’s fundamentalists and Salafis (ultra-fundamentalists).

Egypt: Electoral commission to issue regulations of political rights law | Daily News Egypt

Egypt’s Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC), which will monitor the upcoming parliamentary elections, is slated to issue the regulations for the political rights laws in the upcoming days. The regulations will include 38 articles that will guide the electoral process and give the power to the SEC to manage every stage, from preparing the voters’ lists to the complaints related to the elections.

Regulations will also include forming a committee headed by a member of the SEC, Judge Samir Abdel Moaty, to prepare the first database for voters.

One of the articles will stipulate forming an electoral committee in every governorate to include members of the judiciary, authorizing them to supervise the presentations of the voters’ database as well as inspecting voting stations and reviewing candidates’ proxies inside the stations.

Egypt: Election fever hits as parties form coalitions to compete for first post-Mubarak parliament | Ahram Online

Two main coalitions have already been formed in preparation for Egypt’s first elections following the fall of the Mubarak regime. The coalitions are: The Democratic Coalition for Egypt, formed months ago and the recently created Egyptian Bloc. Although the differences between the two are unclear, there seems to be an Islamic vs. civil split. While some say the groups are distinctly different, others argue that they have not been formed in opposition to each other.

Despite expectations that Egypt’s coming elections will have one of the highest turnout rates ever, similar to the 2011 constitutional referendum conducted months earlier, political parties and coalitions are still in the making. According to statements made by the military council and Egypt’s interim government, the elections are expected to take place in November. The candidates are to be announced by September, less than one month from now.

Egypt: Egypt’s vote in November, says election official | gulfnews

Egypt’s parliamentary elections will be held in the second half of November, two months later than originally scheduled, Chief of the Higher Election Commission Abdul Moaez Ebrahim said on Saturday.

He added that the elections of both houses of the parliament will be held at the same time and fully supervised by judges. “Whether Egyptian expatriates will be able to vote or not needs a political decision,” Ebrahim told reporters in Cairo.

Egypt: Egypt: No foreign monitors in upcoming election | The Washington Post

Egypt will not allow international groups to monitor its upcoming parliamentary election, the country’s military rulers announced Wednesday, echoing ousted president Hosni Mubarak’s argument that foreign electoral oversight would be an affront to Egyptian sovereignty.

Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shahin, a spokesman for the ruling military supreme council, said during a news conference that only Egyptian monitoring groups would be allowed to watch the polls. Foreign monitors, he added, “would interfere with the sovereignty of Egypt.”

The United States and others in the international community have long pressed Egypt to allow foreign monitors into polling stations, a practice that has lent credibility to elections in nascent democracies such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

Egypt: Parties welcome electoral commission measures, demand more | The Daily News Egypt

Several political parties welcomed Tuesday the measures announced by the Supreme Electoral Commission concerning the next parliamentary polls, but demanded more steps. On Monday, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) formed the Commission led by the head of the Cairo Appeals Court Abdel-Mo’ez Ibrahim.

A few hours later, Ibrahim said in a telephone interview with ON TV’s Baladna Bil Masry talk show that the polls will be held in the second part of November but that the electoral process as a whole will start on Sept. 18. Earlier in March, SCAF had announced that parliamentary elections will be held in September but later in July, the polls were delayed to November.

Egypt: Egypt military rulers name electoral council head | The Associated Press

Egypt’s military rulers commissioned a top judge Monday to form an electoral commission, starting the process of organizing the country’s first elections after the popular uprising that ousted authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.
The military decree effectively sets a timeframe for the first parliamentary elections in Egypt’s transition to democracy. The commission begind work on Sept.18, with the vote expected to follow roughly two months later, according to human rights lawyers. The decree, reported by the state news agency, did not set an exact date.

The decision settles a major dispute among various political factions over whether elections should come before or after the writing of a constitution. Many liberals fear well-organized Islamist groups are poised to win big in parliament and hence influence the writing of the country’s post-revolution constitution.

Egypt: Egypt hit by new wave of protests as military postpones election | guardian.co.uk

Egypt’s first democratic parliamentary elections look set to be postponed until November, amid a growing standoff between the ruling military council and protesters who believe their revolution is being betrayed.

The vote was initially scheduled to take place in September, causing concern among many nascent political parties who claim they have not had enough time to prepare since the fall of the former president Hosni Mubarak in February, which ended more than half a century of one-party rule.

Many activists argue that an early poll would only benefit those forces which already boast a strong organisational capacity – namely the Muslim Brotherhood and local remnants of Mubarak’s NDP party – and some have called for a new constitution to be written before any parliamentary ballot takes place.

Egypt: No Internet voting in Egypt: Telecom Minister | Ahram Online

Egypt’s National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) presented new draft amendments to the telecommunications law, according Maged Osman, minister of communications and information technology.

… The minister dismissed the possibility of utilizing electronic voting through the internet in the upcoming elections. “It has been proven worldwide that there is a high risk of security compromises using such method in elections”

Egypt: Egypt looking at e-voting | Bikya Masr

Information technology in Egypt is on the rise and at a conference on Wednesday run by Intel’s “Egypt Tomorrow – IT Vision for a Brighter Future” experts and leaders pushed for the idea of e-voting to become a reality in the new Egypt.

The conference was promoted as an open discussion on the first steps toward how ICT can be a stepping-stone for democracy and freedom in future Egyptian elections.

Wednesday’s session looked at how e-platforms can help improve democratic institutions in Egypt to create a more open voting and educational platform for the country’s citizens. The speakers looked at how technology can play a vital part in achieving democracy.

Egypt: Foreign Ministry to develop Egyptian expatriate voting process | Al-Masry Al-Youm

The Foreign Ministry seeks to develop an expatriate voting process for any upcoming elections or referendums in collaboration with other state bodies, it said Thursday. The ministry’s official spokesperson, Menha Bakhoum, said in a statement that there are many obstacles to organizing the balloting process for Egyptians abroad, such as the absence of legislative rules.

The interim government granted Egyptian expatriates voting rights when it amended election laws earlier this year.

However, in an interview with Al-Masry Al-Youm, Minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology Maged Othman ruled out the possibility of expatriates taking part in parliamentary elections set for September.

Egypt: Army committed to September polls in Egypt | AFP

Egypt’s ruling military council remains committed to holding parliamentary elections in September, despite mounting calls for a delay, a military source told AFP on Monday.

“The military council insists on what it has already announced regarding (holding) elections at the end of September, in accordance with the result of a referendum” held in March, the source said. The military council was responding to statements by Vice President Yehia al-Gamal, who told a satellite channel on Sunday that the army had agreed to postpone the polls to December.

In March, Egyptians voted 77 percent in favour of constitutional amendments which confirmed the army’s proposed timetable for parliamentary elections ahead of the drafting of a new constitution.

Egypt: Minister says no electronic voting for Egypt | Ahram Online

Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Maged Othman announced in a press conference today that Egypt will not use electronic voting in the next presidential election. Othman said electronic voting is currently too costly and requires extensive preparation to ensure the voting process is transparent and everyone is able to vote.

Egypt: Government eyes consuls as potential supervisors for Egyptian expat votes | Al-Masry Al-Youm

Egypt’s communication minister on Monday said the government is considering granting consuls abroad the authority to oversee voting by Egyptian expatriates during upcoming elections. Communication and Information Technology Minister Maged Othman told reporters the move would come as per a decree by the justice minister, adding that Egyptians abroad should register at embassies and consulates.

Egypt: India ink for scripting new era in Egypt | Hindustan Times

Egyptian elections will have a ‘made in India’ stain. The country electing its new President, after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak this February, will use indelible ink used as a marker in India since 1952 to prevent multiple voting. It would also be a litmus test for the Indian electoral system, as United Nations wants…

Egypt: Indian Chief Election Commissioner says Egypt can’t trust imported voting machines can’t be trusted | Financial Express

After the revolution in Tahrir Square, Egyptian authorities consulted India’s Election Commission for help in conducting parliamentary polls in the country, only to get cautious advice from chief election commissioner (CEC) SY Quraishi. He asked his Egyptian counterpart to not import electronic voting machines (EVMs) from anywhere and get these manufactured domestically. Imported machines, however…

Egypt: India to provide EVMs to Egypt | Hindustan Times

There may be lot of debate in India over efficacy of the Electronic Voting Machines but Egypt, which is holding elections after Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, is willing to try the “wonder machine — the EVMs” — in the country wide polls later this year. Egypt will not be the first country to use Indian EVMs.…

Egypt: Minister says Egyptian companies will provide technology for electronic voting | Ahram Online

Maged Osman, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, today denied reports Egypt is seeking technological support from abroad to conduct electronic voting in the country’s upcoming elections. He stressed that the Egyptian government and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has full confidence in the ability of local companies to carry out the task,…