CAIRO: Head of the Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) said that fraud will not be tolerated in the parliamentary elections, and that if any violations are proven, a complaint will be filed to the Prosecutor General. "I will not accept any forging of these elections under any circumstances," Abdel Moez Ibrahim said in a press conference Tuesday, in response to claims that there was foul play during round one of the first parliamentary elections to be held after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak. He said that he did not receive any complaints of forgery. On the second day of first round run-offs, Ibrahim admitted that there were some "negative practices" that took place during the elections that would be avoided in the second round. He added that security would be beefed up during the vote counting process and the SEC would tour the places where the vote counting is taking place to monitor and avoid violations. The Supreme Administrative Court announced Monday evening that elections would be annulled in the first constituency including Sahel, Shoubra and Sharabiya districts, due to violations during the vote counting. The elections in this constituency will be repeated on Jan. 10-11. Ibrahim added that a press conference would be held on Thursday to announce the pros and cons of the first round of elections, while discussing how to avoid said negative practices in the next rounds. He said that a list of voters who failed to cast their vote in the first round of elections which took place on Nov. 28-29 was sent to the General Prosecution for fines of LE 500 each. In each electoral committee, voters were asked to sign in front of their names on the list of voters, after they cast their vote to single out those who failed to show up. He stressed that he would file complaints at the Supreme Administrative Court to disqualify any candidates who use religious slogans in their campaigning, based on official complaints. Regarding Egyptians voting abroad, Ibrahim said that the elections continue in 147 countries, adding that the foreign ministry was responsible for this process, while SEC was responsible for the elections inside Egypt.
