The regulations governing Egypt's first post-25 January Revolution presidential elections were released on 30 March 2012. They form part of the Constitutional Declaration and function alongside the 2005 presidential election law (Law 174/2005). The regulations - Candidates have to have been born in Egypt, may not hold dual nationality and may not be married to a foreigner. They must not be less than 40 years in age. - In order to be nominated, candidates must have the support of at least 30 elected MPs or the recommendations of 30,000 voters from at least 15 Egyptian governorates with no less than 1000 recommendations per governorate; or be nominated by a party holding at least one elected seat in the legislature. The 30,000 recommendations must be recorded by public notary offices affiliated to the Ministry of Justice. - Candidates must submit a detailed statement about their wealth and must have performed military service or have been officially exempted. How to register In a press conference on 19 February Farouk Sultan, chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court and the judge presiding over the Presidential Elections Commission (PEC), made public the paperwork required from candidates. It includes: - Form 1 A, including personal information, to be filled by all candidates. - Form 2 A, to be filled by candidates recommended by 30 parliamentary deputies. - Form 2 B, to be filled by independents seeking to collect 30,000 recommendations. - Form 2 C, to be filled by party-based candidates, including the party's official recommendation certified by the Political Parties Committee, and a certificate from the People's Assembly or Shura Council showing the number of the elected candidates of the recommending party in each house. Each candidate must also provide - birth certificate. - identity card. - a statement of criminal record from the Ministry of Interior. - certification of the nationality of both parents. - official declaration that he is not married to a foreigner. - official declaration that military service has been performed or else an official exemption. - a detailed financial statement. - proof of residence in Cairo. When to register Candidates could register between 10 March and 8 April. This one-month period was selected to allow independent candidates time to collect the 30,000 recommendations required. On Saturday 14 April an initial list of candidates was published. Ten out of the 23 candidates who had registered were excluded from the initial list for failing to meet with one or other of the rules. They included Mubarak's spy chief and vice president Omar Suleiman; Salafi lawyer Hazem Abu Ismail; Muslim Brotherhood businessman Khairat El-Shater and political activist Ayman Nour. Most of these filed appeals with the PEC. A final list of candidates will be announced on 26 April. The election date Presidential elections are scheduled for 23 and 24 May, with a run-off on 16 and 17 June if no candidate wins more than half the vote in the first round. A new president will be named on 21 June. The electorate Of Egypt's 85 million population 52 million are eligible to vote. Campaigning Presidential campaigns officially open on 30 April. Campaigning will continue until 20 May, halting 48 hours before polls open. Campaign funding On 7 March the PEC announced that all presidential candidates must open local currency accounts for their campaigns at one of three banks: the National Bank of Egypt, Bank Misr or Banque du Caire. A ceiling of LE10 million was set for spending in the first round. In the event of a run-off round each candidate can spend an additional LE2 million. Funding will be overseen by the Central Auditing Agency, to which details of donations and expenditure must be submitted by campaign teams. A full statement of campaign accounts must be submitted within 15 days of the announcement of the election results. Overseas donations to campaigns are banned. Campaigning in places of worship is prohibited, as is any campaign material that may be deemed to incite sectarian strife. Law 147/2005 First introduced in 2005 to regulate Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election, law 147 was amended in 2007. Following Mubarak's ouster in February 2011 the law was further amended by the constitutional declaration of 30 March 2011, and emerged in its present form on 21 January 2012 after amendments made by the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) were approved by the Supreme Constitutional Court. Monitoring The five-member PEC is tasked with overseeing the poll from beginning to the end and announcing the results. It is headed by the chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court and includes the chairman of Cairo Appeal Court, the senior deputy chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court, the senior deputy chairman of the Court of Cassation and the senior deputy chairman of the State Council. The work of the PEC, which includes ensuring that all polling stations are supervised by judges, is expected to cost LE1 billion. Other tasks include selecting polling and vote-counting stations, preparing voter lists and regulating election campaigns. The PEC is also in charge of regulating the voting of expatriates, though the vote on the ground will be supervised by diplomatic and consular staff in Egypt's embassies. Anyone found to have violated PEC regulations could face up to 10 years in jail. Article 28 Under Article 28 of the constitutional declaration the PEC's decisions are final and cannot be appealed. The provision has been heavily criticised from across the political spectrum but remains in place. International monitoring The PEC has said that international monitors and media are "welcome to follow" the presidential election. What this means in practice remains unclear. On 28 February the People's Assembly approved amendments to articles 30 and 34 of the presidential election law in an attempt to safeguard the integrity of the poll. The changes allow vote counting to take place in auxiliary polling stations rather than ballot boxes being transported to main polling stations for the count, and require the officials to admit representatives of candidates, the media and civil society organisations to the count. The assembly's amendments were subsequently approved by the Supreme Constitutional Court. Compiled by Gamal Essam El-Din
