Voting begins in Egypt’s parliamentary election

Phase one will see voting from Oct. 18 to 19, with a run-off on Oct. 27-28. Ultimate outcomes shall be formally announced in early December. The second stage of the staggered vote will take place on November 22-23.

The vote begins at 9:00 a.m. (0700 GMT) and ends at 9:00 p.m. (1900 GMT).

Polling will be open Saturday and Sunday from 9am to 9pm, according to each country’s local time.

The elections were initially scheduled for early 2014 but then delayed on legal grounds, after the court ruled that a few of the elections law items, which were related to the electoral districts division, were unconstitutional.

Independent monitoring of Egypt’s parliamentary election is expected to be limited because of pressure from the government on non-governmental organisations and civil society groups.

If there is a run-off, voting overseas will take place on 26-27 October, while voting in Egypt will be on 27-28 October.

Egyptians at or older than 18 are eligible to vote.

Authorities have tightened security measures on campuses across the nation ahead of these long-awaited parliamentary elections to prevent student demonstrations or political rallies.

The country’s High Electoral Committee said last month that they had accepted candidacy papers of nine lists and 5,420 individual candidates.

Ironically, the next parliament will be the first elected after the adoption a year ago of a new constitution, arguably the most liberal Egypt has ever had, which empowers lawmakers, albeit under stringent conditions, to impeach the president, call for early presidential elections or withdraw confidence from the prime minster or individual members of his Cabinet.

Once a parliament is elected, its members will have to vote on all laws issued by El-Sisi and his predecessor, Interim President Adly Mansour. Even the ultra-conservative Islamist Al-Nour party is running, mostly in the hope it will give the electoral process the appearance of inclusion and partially as a reward for its support for the ouster of Morsi and his now-banned Muslim Brotherhood.