Violations reported in Egypt elections

The Observers of the Egyptian Coalition, an umbrella monitoring group that includes a number of Egyptian human rights organisations have confirmed that the first round of Egypt's presidential election was carried out democratically, although there were reported irregularities and violations carried out by some candidates and their supporters as well as judges and soldiers who supervised the electoral process. However, these did not affect the overall integrity and transparency in the electoral process, thanks to the efforts made ??by the Supreme Council of the armed forces (SCAF) to secure the vote and because of the awareness of the Egyptian people who openly declared their support for freedom and democracy. The coalition issued a statement about first round violations in order to prevent them in the run-off. One of the most important transgressions was the delay in opening some polling centres, despite its recurrence in the parliamentary elections of the People's Assembly and Shura Council. The coalition had warned of it and called on the Supreme Presidential Elections Commission to work on opening the polling stations in time determined by the law. Several voting booths in many villages and governorates of the Republic had their openings delayed for periods ranging between one to two hours. Another violation was electoral propaganda spread by some candidates and their supporters during the "elections silence" period, which started two days before the elections, banning all forms of presidential campaigning. Former prime minister and candidate Ahmed Shafiq even held a press conference during the period without respecting the laws of electoral process. Moreover, in the two days of voting, the supporters of many candidates released campaign propaganda in front of polling stations. Supporters of Shafiq mobilised voters in air-conditioned buses to vote in some polling stations, in violation of Egypt's electoral law. The coalition noted bribes offered by some candidates; one vote costs 300 EGP in some governorates. Supporters of some candidates, particularly members of the dissolved National Party, used thugs to intimidate voters and make them reluctant to vote for a particular candidate or even vote at all. Though the instances were dealt with, they may occur again in the run-off. In some polling stations, the observers monitored supervising judges who prevented the delegates from entering polling stations despite being shown the proper monitoring permits. Military and police officers who were authorised to protect the electoral commission tried to persuade voters to elect Shafiq, to the extent that some judges expelled one soldier from the station and asked for him to be replaced by another in order to ensure the integrity and transparency of the electoral process. Some judges also guided the voters to choose a particular candidate Some observers were detained inside the stations while doing their work and one of the delegates, in an isolated incident, was attacked by security forces. Many judges in some polling stations closed them before 9pm as specified by SPEC, which led to hundreds of voters not being able to cast their votes despite being present before the voting deadline. The coalition submitted many recommendations to avoid such violations in the run-off, including the opening of  polling stations on time, encouraging citizens to participate in the electoral process, the commitment of the military and police soldiers to observe neutrality during the electoral process and not direct voters to vote for any candidate, preventing acts of bullying and violence by arresting any individual who targetted the voters to prevent them from participating in the elections and  arresting any person who violated electoral laws . Moreover, the coalition stressed on the neutrality of the judges who supervise the electoral process and called on them not to influence voters to pick a particular candidate. It also suggested helping the elderly vote without trying to influence their choice, and imposing strict penalties on candidates who campaigned for votes. The coalition urged the SPEC to take complaints into account, after it was proved that certain candidates carried out smear campaigns against other candidates. Judges should be present in polling stations as as per the SPEC's schedule. The SPEC should provide full support to the staff involved in the voting process in the different governorates so that they do not have to rely on one of the candidates which could affect its integrity. Finally the election commission must check the validity of the electoral roll and make sure it does not include names of deceased citizens.