A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Egypt's Low Turnout in Round One

What if they gave an election and nobody came? The first round of the first wave of Egypt's long-delayed Parliamentary elections brought an officially reported turnout of only 26.5% of voters. Now the first phase of elections involved only 14 governorates; the other nine will vote in November, including Cairo (though Giza, which is a major part of Greater Cairo, and Alexandria voted in round one). The turnout numbers, however, are based I believe on registered voters in those governorates that voted, not on totals. By contrast, turnout in he 2011 post-revolutionary elections was 64%. (On the positive side, nobody claims 99% turnouts anymore.)

Runoffs were taking place yesterday and today where needed, and it sounds as if turnoffs remain low, especially in Alexandria, suffering from serious flooding.

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