Egypt’s National Elections Authority seeks to secure enough phosphoric ink ahead of 2024 presidential race

CAIRO – 27 August 2023: The Egyptian National Elections Authority, headed by Judge Walid Hamzah, held a meeting on Sunday to discuss ways of securing the phosphoric ink needed for the upcoming presidential elections set to be held in mid-2024, the authority announced in a statement on Sunday.

After it was banned in 2019 and was not used in the 2020 elections of Egypt’s Senate (the upper house of the Parliament), the phosphoric ink will be re-used in next year's elections.

The Authority discussed earlier the required quantities of phosphorus ink, and its technical specifications for the safety of the voting process, the statement added.

The phosphorus ink is key in presidential elections to avoid forging in the voting process as the voter shall ink one of his fingers to ensure that the candidate cannot vote twice.

This election ink was used for the first time in history in Indian General Election in 1962, the statement said.

It is expected that the Authority will announce the schedule of the Egyptian presidential elections 2024 during the month of October 2023, some media outlets reported.

A number of political parties have earlier announced support to President Sisi’s potential candidacy, including the liberal Free Egyptians Party, the Homat Watan Party (Protectors of the Nation), and the liberal Congress Party.

However, constitutional amendments in 2019 stretched the presidential term to 6 years from 4. Therefore, Sisi has served a 6-year term since 2018 and exceptionally has the right to run for a third six-year term until 2030.

Several leading figures from renowned political parties have also announced plans to run for elections, including Abdel-Sanad Yamama, head of El-Wafd Party; and Hazem Oman, head of the People’s Republican Party. From the opposition, former member of parliament Ahmed Tantawy announced that he would run for the presidency.