Polling stations opened across Egypt on Monday for a two-day election for the country's Senate, a vote in which a major political coalition is running uncontested for the 100 seats allocated to party lists. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi cast his ballot on Monday morning at the Martyr Moustafa Yosri Omira school in the Heliopolis district of Cairo. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly also voted in Sheikh Zayed City, west of the capital, and called on all voters to participate in what he described as a "constitutional right and a national duty". Madbouly said the state had taken all necessary measures to ensure the electoral process proceeds in a secure and orderly manner across the country's 8,825 polling stations. Voting for Egyptians inside the country continues until polls close on Tuesday, 5 August. Egyptians living abroad cast their ballots on Friday and Saturday at embassies and consulates. The election is for 200 of the Senate's 300 seats. A total of 424 candidates are competing for 100 seats allocated to individuals after four candidates withdrew their nominations. The other 100 elected seats are allocated to party lists. A single coalition, the "National List for Egypt," which is led by the pro-government Mostaqbal Watan (Nation's Future) party and includes 12 other parties, is running for the 100 list-based seats across the four designated constituencies. This list is considered to have won by default, provided it secures at least 5% of the total valid votes. The remaining 100 members of the chamber will be appointed by the president after the election. The Senate, formerly known as the Shura Council, was abolished under constitutional amendments in 2014 but reinstated following further amendments in 2019. It functions as a semi-advisory body, tasked with studying and proposing ways to strengthen democracy and social peace. It also provides opinions on constitutional amendments and draft laws before they are referred to the House of Representatives for final approval. Results and timeline According to the schedule set by the National Election Authority (NEA), the initial results of the first round will be announced on 12 August. Appeals will be heard by the Supreme Administrative Court between 15 and 24 August. Should any of the individual seats require a run-off election, a second round of voting will take place for Egyptians abroad on 25-26 August and inside Egypt on 27-28 August. The final results of the election are scheduled to be announced and published in the official gazette on 4 September. The NEA said it had made preparations to facilitate voting, particularly for the elderly and people with disabilities. For the first time, instructions on the ballot paper will be written in sign language to assist hearing-impaired voters. The election is being held under the supervision of 9,500 members of judicial bodies. It is the first national election to take place after the end of a 10-year transitional period mandated by the 2014 constitution, which required full supervision of elections by members of the judiciary. That period ended in January 2024. The last major election in Egypt was the presidential vote in December 2023, which saw a turnout of 66.8%, with 44.7 million people casting ballots from a total of 67 million registered voters. Elections for the House of Representatives, the primary chamber of parliament, are expected to be held in November.
