The second round of Shura Council Elections was held without major incident in nine electoral districts yesterday. Electoral participation was low in most of the five governorates in which the second round of voting was held, with the National Democratic Party (NDP) being accused of interfering in the voting process. Intisar Nasim, chairman of the Supreme Electoral Commission, announced in a press statement that the second round of elections had occurred in an "organized fashion." Nasim noted that voters began to arrive at the polling stations early in the morning, and that the voting process occurred without any security incidents or voting irregularities. Nasim stated that mild disputes had occurred in two electoral districts in Upper Egypt. He said that in the district of Qous in the Governorate of Qena, two representatives of a candidate walked into a electoral subcommittee and stole 380 ballots in the presence of the committee chairperson and its members. The representatives then proceeded to fill in the ballots for their candidate. A judge serving on the general electoral committee then investigated the matter and was able to reclaim all but 30 of the stolen ballots. Nasim noted that a confrontation also occurred in the district of el-Bianeh in the Governorate of Sohag, where two candidates and their supporters entered the polling stations to campaign, leading to minor altercations between the two candidates' supporters. Members of the general election committees then intervened and informed the candidates that such behavior was unlawful. In the Governorate of Sohag, disputes occurred in the second district in the towns of Tama and Tahta between supporters of the independent candidate Ahmad Haridi and local members of the People's Assembly from the NDP when the ruling party interfered in the election process to support its candidate, Mahmoud Abu Sadira, with backing from security forces. In the el-Tabi town polling station in the city of Tama, Yusif el-Qadi and Mukhtar el-Maabadi, members of the People's Assembly, expelled Mohamed Haridi--brother of the independent candidate--from the polling station after a physical and verbal dispute developed. The two People's Assembly deputies also engaged in a dispute with Ahmad el-Sayid, a former candidate for election, after the two deputies prevented supporters of Ahmad Haridi from voting, leading security forces to intervene to restore order. In the city of Tama, polling stations 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 at the Girl's Secondary School, as well as stations 51, 52 and 53 at the Girl's Prepatory School, did not open until 10 AM. Turnout was low in the fifth district in the towns of el-Balina and Dar el-Salam, where a second round of Shura elections was held, pitting Wafd Party candidate Mahhmoud Abdel Wahid Muhasib against independent candidate Wafaqi Zayn el-Abadin. There were no reported violations of electoral protocol or interference in the voting process, which some ascribed to the absence of an NDP candidate in the race. It is expected that the Wafd Party candidate will win the race. Fuad el-Badawi, vice-chairman of the Wafd Party, told Al-Masry Al-Youm that Mahmoud Abdel Wahid, who announced that he was joining the party, was not the party's candidate. Badawi added that independent candidate Wafaqi Zayn el-Abadin had also filled out an application for membership in the party, and that the party was currently determining whether it would support either of the competing candidates. In this context, it is notable that Wafd Party Chairman El-Sayid el-Badawi had previously held a press conference in the Governorate of Sohag supporting Abdel Wahid as the Wafd Party candidate. No disturbances were reported in Aswan, where the second round of elections pitted two NDP candidates, Salih Mansour Mishali, the current delegate to the Shura Council, against Sharai Mohamed Salih, who obtained the most votes in the first round of elections. Voter turnout was low in the first district, which includes Aswan, Abu Simbel and Drau due to the heat. There was a lack of transportation in Aswan on election day, as the candidates rented cars to transport voters from their homes to the polling stations. The two candidates also distributed drinks to those working at the polling stations. On the Red Sea, participation was moderate in the second round of voting for the El-Amal El-Yatim seat. The polling stations reserved especially for female voters in the city of Hurghada saw an increase in voting numbers compared to the first round of elections. Elders from the El-Ababda tribe in the area arranged transportation to drive voters to polling stations. Ali Hamdun from the El-Ababda tribe competed against Abu el-Hasan Sadiq for the only seat in the district in a race in which 130,000 votes were cast. Both candidates are members of the NDP. A number of voters from the cities of El-Qasir and Mursa Alam confirmed to Al-Masry Al-Youm that votes for both candidates were selling for LE250. A representative of one of the candidates received severe blows to the head after a confrontation erupted between him and the chairman of polling station 127 at the Mursa Alam School for Primary Education. The representative objected to a decision made by the chairman to allowing women to vote by only presenting their birth certificates, requesting that the chairman stop the voting process and not count the ballot box in question. A police report was filed over the incident. In the Governorate of Qena, voter turnout was limited for the second round of voting in five races in which five NDP candidates competed against five independents. However, there was a record-high turnout in the villages of El-Nagahia, El-Awalad Nagm, El-Heisha, El-Ashraf, El-Barahima and Qift. Altercations broke out at the Al-Azhar Institute Polling Station in Qana between supporters of independent candidate Rafai Abdel Wahab and supporters of Mamoud Sayid Gabur, the NDP candidate, due to the presence of Gubur's supporters in the independent candidate's Supervisory Commission. Supporters of both candidates engaged in the destruction of the other candidate's electoral papers. Mohamed Sayid Amish, a supporter of independent candidate Abdel Wahab, filed a report with the Qift police station accusing Gabur's supporters of rigging ballot boxes 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450 and 451 at various polling stations in the district. Confrontations also occurred in Nagaa Hamadi between supporters of independent candidate Ahmad Mukhtar Othman and Abdel Razeq el-Sanabsi over disputes relating to the candidates' electoral papers. In the Governorate of South Sinai, Yehia Salim Awda Awad, a member of the El-Qararsha tribe and representative of independent candidate Awad el-Gabali, accused Salim Samhan, NDP Secretary for South Sinai, of bribing voters with payouts of between LE50 and LE100 in front of the election headquarters at the Teaching Academy. Awad told Al-Masry Al-Youm that he saw with his own eyes the NDP Secretary give cash to voters in return for promises to vote for NDP candidate Sabih Gamal Sabih in the second round of elections. Translated from the Arabic Edition.
