Election wrap-up: Women most active, int’l media reports ‘freely’

CAIRO – 26 March 2018: The turnout of women and elderly voters has been noticeable since the beginning of the presidential election at 9 a.m. Monday, while the State Information Service (SIS) stated that international media is covering the election “freely”.



Diaa Rashwan, head of SIS, said the organization has been coordinating with the representatives of dozens of foreign media outlets to facilitate their task, providing them hotline 16149 for their assistance.

North Sinai proves resilient

Mohamed Abdel Mohsen, head of the Judges’ Club, said that he contacted judges supervising the election in North Sinai to make sure everything runs properly, adding that they praised the cooperation of the police and military with them.

Military jets had transferred judges tasked with supervising the election in remote governorates. In May 2015, three judges were killed in a gun attack in Arish while on their way to attend court sessions.

Polling stations in North Sinai’s Beir el-Abd and Arish cities recorded the largest turnout in the presidential election thus far on Monday, according to the Cabinet’s operation room.

The two North Sinai cities have witnessed long lines of voters.

Salafist Nour Party calls for voting

Leaders and members of the Salafist Nour Party participated en masse in the Egyptian presidential election on Monday, March 26.

Yasser el Borhamy, deputy president of the Nour Party, cast his ballot in the presidential election on Monday. Undersecretary General of the Nour Party Mohamed Mansour said that the party set up an operational room to observe the election.

Secretary of the Nour Party in Menoufia stated in a press release that voter turnout in the polls is promising, pointing out that the members of the party voted for President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.


A woman in niqab at a polling station in the Fifth Settlement, Cairo on March 26, 2018 - Mahmoud Fakhry

In a press conference in January, Nour Party Chairperson Younes Makhioun announced the party’s support for President Sisi to run for a second term in the presidential election.

Monitoring the election

The Supreme Media Regulatory Council applauded the “high turnout” of Egyptians who went to cast their votes on the first day of the presidential election.

Makram Mohammed Ahmed, head of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, said that he toured several polling stations in Heliopolis and Al-Sayeda Zeinab, and saw long queues of Egyptian voters standing before the polling stations.

He further remarked that he has not witnessed any violations by the media during its coverage of the presidential election and that the election is running smoothly.

The National Council for Human Rights, which is among dozens of local and international organizations monitoring the poll, said in a statement Monday that it sends complaints and reports to the National Election Authority and that it would issue a daily report on the election process.

Issues with the electoral process have reportedly been exclusive to a few judges opening their polling stations later than 9 a.m., or that they have been replaced due to health or personal circumstances.