Egyptians began voting on Monday in the first phase of elections for the House of Representatives, the country's main parliamentary chamber, a two-day vote held across 14 governorates. The polls will be held on Nov. 10 and 11 to choose a new lower house of parliament for the next five years. Egyptian expatriates cast their ballots at embassies and consulates in 117 countries on Friday and Saturday. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly praised the efforts of various state institutions, the National Election Authority, and Egyptian diplomatic missions in ensuring the smooth and orderly conduct of the electoral process. The first phase covers the governorates of Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Marsa Matrouh. About 35 million voters are eligible to cast their ballots in this stage at 5,606 polling stations across 70 electoral districts. A total of 1,281 candidates are competing for individual seats, alongside a single electoral list in the West Delta and the Central, South, and North Upper Egypt sectors for seats allocated under the list system. The "National List for Egypt," led by the Mostaqbal Watan (Nation's Future) party, is the leading contender for the list-based seats after winning a vast majority in the Senate elections held a few months ago. The second phase of the elections will take place on Nov. 21-22 for expatriates and Nov. 24-25 domestically in the remaining 13 governorates. The final results are scheduled to be announced on Dec. 18, with the new parliament set to convene in January 2026. Egypt held elections for the Senate, the upper house of parliament, in August, with a turnout of 17.1%. Parliamentary seats are divided between closed party lists and individual candidates. The constitution stipulates that at least 25% of the members of parliament must be women.
