Security measures tightened at Egypt’s National Election Authority

CAIRO - 20 January 2018: Egypt’s Ministry of Interior has tightened the security measures outside the headquarters of the National Election Authority (NEA) on Saturday, which opened its doors to receive applications of candidates for the 2018 presidential election.

Police officers covered all entrances and exits of the building to secure judges who are running the process of receiving the applications.

The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Interior are responsible for applying the needed security measures to protect the NEA headquarters and all officials involved in running the elections process.

The deadline for submitting the applications is January 29, according to the authority’s timeline.

Photo: Tight security measures at Egypt’s National Election Authority, Jan. 20, 2018 – Egypt Today/Hassan Mohamed

All presidential candidates must meet the requirements set by the NEA. The list includes being an Egyptian national born to Egyptian parents, no younger than 40 years old and not suffering from any physical or mental illnesses among other conditions. A candidate’s wife must also be an Egyptian and born to Egyptian parents as well.

A candidate must submit a birth certificate, a criminal record document, a military service certificate, a financial disclosure, a medical report, and a receipt of paying LE 20,000 ($1,128.80) to the authority.

Those who have announced their decision to run as presidential candidates include current President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, veteran lawyer and human rights activist Khaled Ali, and ex-military chief of staff Sami Anan.

Candidates in the presidential election must be recommended by at least 20 elected parliamentarians or be endorsed by at least 25,000 citizens who have the right to vote, in at least 15 governorates, with a minimum of 1,000 supporters from each governorate.

The final list of the candidates will be announced on February 24; the deadline for any candidate to retract their candidacy is March 1. The primary results of the first round of the election will be announced on March 29, when decisions on appeals submitted by candidates, if any, will be made.