The Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights monitored the runoff elections today on December 5th, 2010 from a gender perspective in women’s polling stations. Twenty-nine female candidates participated in the runoff elections for quota seats: 18 from the National Democratic Party, 11 independent candidates in 9 governorates, and one candidate on a regular seat from NDP.
ECWR’s operations room received several complaints from its monitors in women’s polling stations.
Qena:
- ECWR’s monitors observed filling the ballot papers for NDP’s female candidate on labor seat starting from opening the polling stations. Also violence and fights by supporters of men candidates were reported, which resulted in preventing female candidates from entering the polling stations.
- In Hegaza Qebly the primary school committees (114- 115), ballot papers are filled in the polling station by supporters of men candidates of NDP, and they were filling the ballot papers for women in order to favor those women candidates (Mona El Shaht “Professional”, & Fatma Muhammad Ibrahim “Labor”)
- In El Ouraba School in El Halafawy, gunshots were fired by supporters of NDP’s candidate, which resulted in preventing electors and women to enter the polling stations.
- The primary school for girls in Nag Hamady committees (117- 124), voting cards were forged by supporters of NDP’s candidates, for NDP candidates (such as Nahla El Mehrezy on quota professional seat).
Aswan:
- Delegates were prevented from entering the polling station in Sayed El Adafawy School as it was claimed that their proxies were not signed by the chief of the police station.
Ismailia:
- Sohir Sultan, a female candidate, called the ECWR’s operation room to say that she was banned from entering constituency no. 130 in Omar Ibn Abdel Aziz School in Fayed. She was surprised to find forged voting. Many female voters’ cards were forged, even the Sohir Sultan’s card itself was forged by the head of the constituency and his assistants.
Souhag:
- The female candidate of Al Wafd party got a sentence on December 4th, providing that the elections in the first constituency is forged and that the declaration of results of the parliamentary elections concerning quota seats in the North Souhag constituency is to be cancelled. Yet, the sentence had not been applied.
Moreover, the following violations were committed:
- There is electoral propaganda supporting the NDP candidate inside the polling stations. The police were inside the electoral constituencies.
- Monitors were banned from entering the constituencies. Representatives of the candidates were banned from entering except those of the NDP candidate.
- Quota voting cards were forged in order to favor the NDP candidates.
Qualiubia:
- In Talkha constituency, in front of Al Shaheed Osama Khattab Primary school, women were taken by microbus in order to vote for the NDP candidate.
- In Qaha constituency, at Al Shaheed Osama Mokhtar primary school, in constituencies no. 256-262, many women gathered in a pickup truck in order to vote for the NDP candidate.
Luxor:
- In the first constituency, in a Luxor police station, a march was held by the supporters of Rawia Al Sahaby, the female candidate of Al Ahrar party, and they were shouting “we are in Egypt and not in Israel.”
ECWR is continuing to monitor the runoff parliamentary elections of 2010 from a gender perspective
