The total turnout in the second leg of the parliamentary election was 29.83 percent, with the For the Love of Egypt winning all 60 contested list-based seats, Egypt's High Election Committee (HEC) said in a Wednesday press conference. The turnout in the first stage of the poll, which was completed in October, was 26.5 percent. The For the Love of Egypt electoral list, which supports the policies of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, also won the 60 contested list-based seats in the first leg of the elections, securing the majority bloc of the parliament. On Sunday and Monday, 13 governorates cast their ballots in the second stage of the parliamentary elections. Nine candidates won the majority of the votes in their constituencies in the race for 222 independent seats and thus will advance to parliament. The runoffs for the remaining 213 independent seats will take place next week. The highest voter turnout in the second stage was in the governorate of South Sinai, with a 41.6 percent. Kafr El-Sheikh, in the north Delta, came in second with 36.82 percent, and Daqahliya, in the central Delta, finished third with 36 percent. Suez voters came in last with only 18.1 percent of eligible voters going to polling stations. Cairo, the largest governorate in population and eligible voters, came in second to last, with only 19.96 percent of eligible voters casting their ballots. Egyptian expatriates HEC also announced the results of Egyptians abroad, which were part of the final numbers. A total of 37,141 expatriates cast their ballots abroad, an increase of 21.65 percent compared to expat vote in the first stage in October. The majority of Egyptians who voted abroad were in the 31-40 age range. Egyptians expatriates in Saudi Arabia came in first in voter turnout with 30.4 percent voters casting ballots followed by Kuwait, 18.3 percent, and United Arab Emiratis, 12.7 percent. Next parliament The new parliament is expected to hold its first session before the end of this year. The House of Representatives will be composed of 596 MPs, the highest number in Egypt's 150-year parliamentary history, 448 seats for independents, 120 for party-based lists, and 28 will be appointed by the president. Egypt has been without a legislative body since a court dissolved in June 2012 the 2011 House of Representatives on constitutional grounds. Voting turnout in the 2011 elections was 62 percent. Since his election in June 2014, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has held legislative power in the absence of a parliament. The first task of the new parliament will be to vote within two weeks of its convening on all laws issued by El-Sisi and his predecessor, interim president Adly Mansour (July 2013 - June 2014). source: Ahram online
