HELWAN: Voters in the Helwan constituency alleged electoral fraud during the Shoura Council elections held Tuesday. A crowd of roughly 40 voters gathered outside the El-Rassas polling station, Helwan, told Daily News Egypt they had been prevented by police officers from entering polling stations in order to vote. Voters had been informed that in order to vote they needed a voting card — which is obtained from the police station in their constituency. Many voters said that they either did not know about the card, or had faced trouble obtaining it. All insisted that according to election regulations, a voting card is not mandatory and that proof of identity — in the form of a national ID card or driving license — is sufficient. This was confirmed by a poster listing election regulations produced by the police upon the insistence of Haitham Mohamadain, a lawyer from the Nadeem Center for the Victims of Violence. While the regulations state that a voting card is necessary, it also states that voters can still cast their ballots as long as they have proof of identity. Voters at the El-Rassas polling station who pointed this out to police officers were nonetheless denied entry. One voter with a voting card was allowed entry while Daily News Egypt was at the El-Rassas polling station. Angry voters from throughout Helwan proceeded to the El-Saf courthouse, where around 150 people — the majority of whom were supporters of Muslim Brotherhood candidate Ali Fath El-Bab — chanted slogans in support of the MB and condemned police interference in the voting process.
Mostafa Murad, a representative of Fath El-Bab said, “There is no competition. We're in competition with the police.” Murad says that he was denied entry into polling stations despite having official authorization to observe the voting process in his capacity as an official representative of a candidate. This was echoed by Abdel-Rahman Allam, a representative of independent candidate Amr Okasha. “The disaster is that when we come up against irregularities such as this normally we would go to the police. But the police are part of the problem,” Allam said. Both Allam and Murad say police informed them that they could not enter polling stations because their authorizations “had not been stamped by the regional security directorate.” Both men say that such a stamp is not legally required. Addressing the crowd, Muslim Brotherhood MP Ahmed Abdo Shaboun said, “We were hoping that the elections would be free, fair and transparent — as they repeatedly claim they are, “But unfortunately there were no elections at all … The number of people who actually voted can be counted on one hand.” Shaboun alleged that the “strange condition” of the necessity of having a voting card was imposed “despite the fact that the High Electoral Commission said it is unnecessary.” “We have repeatedly called for voting to be possible with just ID cards,” Shaboun added. Murad said that the fact that voters were preventing from casting ballots, and candidate representatives from entering polling stations means that “votes will be forged in favor of the ruling National Democratic Party.” “They've completely shut us out of the elections. We have no means of pursuing change other than the elections.” Daily News Egypt was prevented from entering polling stations despite accreditation from the media center which explicitly authorizes card-carrying journalists to enter polling stations.
