CAIRO: Voter turnout during this week's runoff elections was 39 percent, according to Judge Abdel Moez Ibrahim, head of Egypt's Supreme Electoral Committee. Voter turnout during last week's first round elections was 60 percent, he added. Ibrahim's statements came during a press conference on Wednesday. Ibrahim said he banned the use of any type of religious propaganda during elections and he will send any candidate who violated these regulations before the prosecution. Military and security officers have a detection judicial authority, according to Ibrahim, should they notice any violation outside poll stations. Ibrahim also said he received reports that some non-governmental organizations were financed by outside entities to work against the elections. He said he received these reports because he is the president of the Court of Appeals. These reports are classified, said Ibrahim, because they involve public figures. Ibrahim said all evidence will be referred to the criminal court to announce the details of any public figure's involvement once investigations are completed. Last week Egypt held the first of three rounds of elections for the People's Assembly, the lower house of Egypt's bicameral parliament. It was the country's first election since a popular uprising ousted Egypt's three-decade leader and his regime earlier this year.
