Newsletters
Egypt’s top administrative court has expanded the annulment of first-phase parliamentary election results to dozens of districts over alleged irregularities, prompting rights groups to call for the resignation of election officials and a nationwide rerun.
The National Election Authority has already annulled results in 19 districts from the first phase, citing fundamental flaws in the voting and counting process.
The new annulment rulings, issued early Sunday, added 26 more districts to the list of constituencies whose results had already been voided, raising the total to 45 out of 70 individual districts covered by the two voting phases.
The decisions came after examining between 251 and 259 appeals, most of which cited “substantial irregularities,” including the use of political money, vote buying, insufficient oversight of polling and counting committees, and discrepancies in tally records. The court said these violations directly undermined the integrity of the election.
Under the rulings, certificates of victory issued to candidates in the annulled constituencies are revoked, and elections are to be re-held in those districts, with seats remaining vacant until voting is completed.
The decision reshapes the electoral landscape in the affected governorates and draws renewed attention to the performance of the National Election Authority and the regulations governing the conduct of the first phase.
Several human rights organizations, including the Andalus Institute, condemned Major General Ahmed Ibrahim Mostafa Suleiman, describing him as one of the principal officials responsible for overseeing the electoral process and the irregularities that marred it.
The organizations also called for the resignation of the National Election Authority’s board of directors to preserve what remains of public trust, after what they described as clear institutional failure in managing the electoral process.
The groups further urged that elections be rerun nationwide — not only in the districts where results were annulled — to ensure equal opportunities for all candidates and to restore the integrity of the election from its foundations.
2 min read
