Egypt’s NEA announces end of Senate elections

CAIRO – 12 August 2020: The National Election Authority headed by Judge Lashin Ibrahim announced on Wednesday the closure of all polling stations for the Senate elections and the start of the vote-counting process.

Some 163 international institutions along with local media outlets are covering the election in which 787 candidates competed.

The General Command of the Armed Forces had taken all measures to secure the 2020 Senate elections nationwide, and provide a safe environment for citizens to cast their votes.

“The Armed Forces has been keen to deploy fixed security forces, in addition to mobile security patrols, and to ensure that all participating forces understand the tasks assigned to them to protect citizens and address all threats that can be faced during securing committees, in cooperation with the police forces,” read a statement by the Armed Forces.

International and local NGOs and the Arab League are taking part in the election as observers.

Egyptians at home started voting process Tuesday in the Senate Elections Tuesday at home, after it concluded expats vote on Monday.

The Senate is the upper chamber of the Parliament, which was reinstated as part of constitutional amendments that passed in a referendum in 2019, in replacement of Shura Council, which was dissolved in 2014.

The voting process kicked off at 9 a.m. as scheduled by the Supreme Elections Committee. Queues of voters wearing medical masks and holding disinfectants were seen outside polling stations in different governorates; floor marks keeping social distance for voters were seen at some polling stations. 

Noticeable turnout by elderly voters was seen during the early hours of the day. 

A total of 63 million Egyptians are registered voters, and entitled to vote in the 2020 Senate elections, where they will cast their votes at 14,092 sub-polling stations. The judicial supervision of the voting process is assigned to 18,000 judges and 120,000 employees.