Egypt electoral body chief admits to vote irregularities

Missing ballot papers and judges and violence at three polling stations cast a cloud over first day of parliamentary elections

Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC), used a press conference at the close of the day's voting in the first round of parliamentary elections to list incidents of irregularities. He started off, and set the tone for the event, by stating that he is not responsible for the delay some polling stations experienced before receiving ballot papers.
Ibrahim went on to reveal that only three clashes broke out at polling stations. These he listed as having taken place in Cairo at: Collage de la Salle School in Daher, Ahmed Shawqi School in Matareya and a station in Sharabia. The three were, as a result, closed.
Maintaining an offensive tone throughout, Ibrahim also stressed that he was not attempting to hide problems experienced during the vote and pledged to avoid repeating the mistakes made today. As for tomorrow, polling stations will not close until everyone has had the chance to cast their vote, even if the deadline has passed, said Ibrahim.
The lack of ballot papers drove some judges to leave the polling stations they were supervising.
Ibrahim ended the press conference by mentioning that In the village of Armant el-Heit in Luxor, a polling station was shut down after a policeman was caught filling in multiple ballot papers.