No intention to extend voting period: NEA

CAIRO – 28 March 2018: The National Election Authority (NEA) has not taken any decision to extend the voting period to Thursday, said NEA spokesperson Mahmoud El-Sherif during a press conference.

Sherif stressed that the authority should be the entity to announce the results of the election, warning media outlets against publishing results earlier than the NEA.

He added that the authority has not received any complaints that could hinder the election process.

In this regard, he remarked that the one-hour break that was allocated for supervising judges during the voting process was cancelled to ensure more ease for voters, particularly employees.

He stated that the results of election will be declared on April 2, adding that the subcommittees will count the ballots directly after ending the vote, declaring the results to media and civil societies, as well as the representatives of each candidate.

Sherif concluded that the results produced by the subcommittees will be sent to the plenary committee, which will also declare the results and send them to the NEA.

“There have not been any complaints or obstacles during the electoral process so far, and operations rooms are following the process very closely,” Sherif told Egypt Today on Tuesday.

He added that all polling stations around the country opened at 9.00 a.m. without delay.

On Monday, the first voting day, the NEA held a press conference to review the progress of the electoral process, confirming that the authority did not receive any complaints. This is with the exceptional cases of three judges who suffered some illness and were replaced immediately without affecting the election process.

During the press conference, a journalist asked the NEA spokesperson about the authority’s procedures to check female voters who wear niqab. Sherif replied that the authority has deployed female officials at each polling station to check women wearing niqab.