The Egyptian embassy in the Netherlands today announced that all votes cast by expatriate Egyptians in the recent parliamentary runoff elections, the first in which national abroad are able to vote, had been counted. The ballot counting got underway on Tuesday under the supervision of the Egyptian ambassador, the Egyptian Consul, the embassy adviser, the secretary-general of the embassy, the administrative secretary and the deputy secretary-general, a diplomatic source reported. The ballot boxes were opened in Amsterdam. Members of the Egyptian community in the Netherlands and other diplomats observed the process, the source said. “Participation in the runoff was weak compared to the first round voting,” the source continued. “The embassy in the Netherlands has received Egyptian citizens for the last two days,” he continued. “We also received packages of ballots.” “The Egyptian embassy transferred the votes to Cairo,” said Egyptian ambassador to the UK Hatem Seif el-Naser. “Some voters came to the embassy and others sent in ballots via post,” el-Naser told MENA. “Members of the Egyptian community in London watched the ballot counting process,” he said. “We finished counting ballots today.” Around 800 ballots were counted and sent to Cairo, he added. Arabic here
