Polls reopened in several areas in Egypt on Sunday for the second and final voting day domestically for the new House of Representatives elections first stage, which are held amid strict preventive measures against the coronavirus pandemic. Poll stations reopened in 14 governorates at 9 am and will close at 9 pm.The National Election Authority (NEA) said it has not received complaints of violations related to the voting process on Saturday. The governorates included in the voting were Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, El-Wadi El-Gedid, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira and Matrouh.The results of the first round will be announced by 1 November at the latest. The first stage of run-offs will be held on 21-23 November for Egyptians abroad, and on 23-24 November at home. The final results will be declared on 30 November at the latest. The total number of eligible voters in Egypt is 63 million, out of a population of 100 million. The eligible voters in the first stage are estimated at nearly 33 million. The new House election is the second to be held in Egypt amid the coronavirus pandemic, the first being the Senate vote, which was held in August. Almost 4,000 individual candidates and eight coalition lists are competing over 568 seats in this election. A total of 284 seats will be up for grabs in the first stage, with half – 142 seats – allocated for individual candidates, and the other half for party lists. The second phase will see a first round on 7-8 November and run-offs on 7-8 December. The pro-government Mostaqbal Watan Party, which currently holds majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, is fielding 284 candidates, the largest number from any party. The party is contesting all 143 individual districts as well as the four party list districts in the race.
