CAIRO: Qena, Al-Wadi Al-Gadid saw high turnout as voters head to the polls to cast their ballots in the final stage of the parliamentary elections, amid reports of violations by different parties. In Qena, voting turnout was notably high among women and youth, as campaigning in front of polling stations intensified by the Islamists Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and the Salafi Al-Nour Party. Qena is divided into two constituencies for the party lists seats, one including four seats and the other eight seats, as well as three single winner constituencies with two seats for each, totaling 18 seats for the entire Upper Egypt governorate, where 1.5 million are eligible to vote. "Monitors of these parties are influencing the decisions of the voters by asking them to vote for their lists and candidates, exploiting the weak organization in some polling stations across the province," member of Qena Youth Coalition Bassem Yassin told Daily News Egypt Tuesday. Yassin said that the FJP, Al-Nour, the Revolution Continues Alliance, Al-Adl and Al-Wafd Parties are the main competitors for the party lists system, with a weak presence for the secular Egyptian Bloc in a province dominated by tribalism. "The individual seats are predominantly controlled by the remnants of the disbanded National Democratic Party (NDP), especially Abdel Rehim El-Ghoul who is contesting the elections in Deshna constituency, and mostly competing with the FJP and Al-Nour candidates," Yassin added. Army and police forces were notably present in front of polling stations to secure them. The FJP operations room in Qena reportedly complained about violations including vote buying by candidates of El-Hureya party, an offshoot of the disbanded NDP. FJP also reported an attack by a candidate of the Free Egyptians Party against FJP female monitors. They also complained about a judge in Deshna directing voters to vote for Al-Wasat Party. One World Organization documented cases in different constituencies where voters entered polling station in groups to vote, while some elections monitors prevented by army forces from entering polling stations. The organization also said that campaigning inside polling stations continued as army forces tried to prevent it, but it was widespread in the areas surrounding the polling stations across the province as cars were touring the cities with slogans of the FJP, Al-Hureya and Al-Nour Parties to encourage voters to vote for them. In the border province of El-Wadi El-Gedid, voting turnout was moderately high where less than quarter a million voters are eligible to vote. The gonvernorate on Egypt's south-west borders with Sudan and Libya is comprised of one constituency for four seats in the lists system and two the individual seats system. The FJP, Al-Nour, the secular Egyptian Bloc, El-Hureya and Al-Adl parties are competing in the party lists systems in the province where tribalism controls the decisions of the voters. Violations of campaigning in front of polling stations continued by the FJP, Al-Nour and Al-Hureya Parties and One World Organization documented minor fraud practices using the “rotating ballot paper,” where voters enter the station with an already marked ballot and bring out the new blank one. FJP, Al-Nour, and El-Hureya Parties are the ones mostly competing to win in the party lists system, followed by the secular Egyptian Bloc, as competition is fierce in the individual seats between remnants of the disbanded NDP and FJP candidates.
