Polling stations in Egypt are witnessing a low voter turnout today, the first day of run-offs for the first phase of the parliamentary elections that began on 28 November in nine governorates. Some voters, however, waited outside polling stations before they officially opened at 8 am. Although polling stations in Cairo remain calm and tightly secured by police and army forces, the voter turnout is higher in other governorates. The run-offs are taking place in 27 constituencies in nine governorates: Cairo, Alexandria, Assiut, Luxor, Kafr al-Sheikh, Port Said, the Red Sea, Damietta and Fayoum. This round will determine 52 winners out of 104 candidates. The run-offs are for single-winner candidates rather than list-based ones. Only four candidates for the single-winner seats have been declared winners. Islamist groups have a strong presence in the run-offs. Out of the 104 candidates, 48 belong to the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and 36 to the Salafi-led Nour Party. The Egyptian Bloc, a coalition of liberal and leftist parties, has 14 candidates. The Wafd Party and Egypt National Party each have one candidate, and there are four independent candidates. According to the head of the High Election Commission, Abdel Moez Ibrahim, results for the list-based seats during the first round show that the Freedom and Justice Party are leading with more than 3.5 million votes, followed by the Nour Party with nearly 2.4 million votes, and the Egyptian Bloc with around 1.3 million votes. Wafd Party lists came fourth, followed by the Wasat Party and lastly the Revolution Continues Coalition. Translated from the Arabic Edition
