Candidacy application for Egypt's Senate begins July 11 until July 18

CAIRO – 11 July 2020: Twenty-seven primary courts across Egypt started receiving Saturday the applications of potential candidates running for Senate as independents, individual party members and on party lists.

The application will conclude on July 18 as candidates must be aged at least 35 and recipients of high education or equivalent. The candidate must be enrolled on electoral lists, and holding the Egyptian nationality. Male candidates must provide a proof they accomplished the mandatory military service or got exempted by law.

Candidates must submit their CVs, criminal records, birth certificates, national ID copies, financial statements of themselves, spouses, and minor children, and - if applicable - party membership statements signed by the chair and stamped.

The applications fees for independents and individual party members are LE10,000 and LE15,000, respectively. The value of fees for party lists is LE35,000.

After the National Election Authority (NEA) announces voting dates, candidates must provide resignation proof, if they worked at the Police, Armed Forces, General Intelligence Service, Administrative Control Authority, and judiciary. Or, if they were ministers, deputy ministers, governors, deputy governors, and chiefs of independent institutions and control authorities.  

After candidacy is approved, candidates must provide proof that a separate bank account was opened at the National Bank of Egypt (NBE), Banque Misr, or one of the post offices for campaign funding. The account must have the Egyptian pound as currency.  

According to the schedule, the direct secret ballot will be held abroad on Sunday and Monday corresponding (August 9 and 10), and will be held domestically on Tuesday and Wednesday (August 11 and 12).

In case of a re-election, the ballot will be held abroad on Sunday and Monday (September 6 and 7), and in Egypt on Tuesday and Wednesday (September 8 and 9).

the Senate will be made up of 300 members, with one third to be elected through the individual system, the second third through the closed list system, and the last third to be named by the president.

In addition to this, at least 10 percent of the Senate seats should be occupied by women, and there will be 27 constituencies for the individual system, and four constituencies for the closed list system.

The senator's term of office will be five years and it will start as of the first meeting of the Senate.