CAIRO: The Free Egyptians Party, one of the members of the Egyptian Bloc electoral alliance, has listed a series of what it claims are violations of electoral procedures, as polls opened for parliamentary elections in Egypt on Monday. They have called on voters to report any electoral violations they witness to the party. The party claims that ballot papers for individual seats in two Zamalek polling stations were not stamped. The party also reports that the judge in charge of two polling stations in Daher closed the stations on the grounds that he was unable to control the crowd, but the complaints received by the party suggested that the presence of large number of women not wearing the hijab were a factor. The party says that in the Shima School polling station in Masakin Sheraton, those voting for the Egyptian Bloc candidates were prevented from signing the register by the officials in charge. The party also claims that at the Coptic School polling station in Shubra, the presiding officer was allegedly asking candidates who they intended voting for, and giving unstamped ballot papers to those who intended to vote for Egyptian Bloc candidates. In another Shubra polling station, officials dealt with a problem of ballot papers not having been stamped by opening the ballot box and stamping the ballots in it and then put them back in the box. The party claims that in the Taba school polling station in Madinat Nasr, there were pictures and posters of Freedom and Justice Party candidates hanging inside the station and officials attempted to force voters to cast their votes for the party, leading many voters to make official complaints to the police. The Free Egyptians also claim that candidates of the Freedom and Justice Party and the Wasat Party were giving presents to voters at a number of polling stations. The party further alleges that at the Azhar Institute polling station in Tora, an official was casting ballots on behalf of voters, and the Egyptian Bloc candidate was thrown out of the station when she complained. BM
