Paris - Arab Today
The Egyptian Embassy in Paris and consulate in Marseille opened their doors on Tuesday to Egyptian expats to vote on the second and last day in the runoff elections of the second phase of parliamentary elections.
The second round of parliamentary elections covered the 13 governorates of Cairo, Qalioubiya, Daqahliya, Menoufiya, Gharbiya, Kafr el Sheikh, Sharqiya, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai and South Sinai.
Egyptian expatriates voted in the runoff elections on Monday and Tuesday.
Runoffs will be held on December 1-2 for Egyptian at home, and on November 30 to December 1 for Egyptian expatriates.
Some 27.5 million voters are eligible to cast their vote in the second round compared to 25.5 million in the first stage.
As many as 222 independent parliamentary seats will be available in this vote, with 2,847 candidates competing in 102 constituencies. In addition there are 60 seats which will be filled by whichever party list secures a majority in two constituencies: Cairo and the Middle and South Delta (which has 45 seats), and East Delta (with 15 seats).
Four electoral coalitions will compete for the 45-seat Cairo and Delta constituency with 180 candidates or 45 each: “For the Love of Egypt”, the Nour Party, the Egyptian Front and Independence Current Alliance, and the Republican Alliance of Social Forces.
The first round of the polls ended up by a turnout reported at 26.56 percent.
New Valley governorate scored the highest turnout with 37 percent of registered voters participating in the elections, while Giza had the lowest turnout with 21 percent.
The "For the love of Egypt" electoral list won the party-based list seats in the first stage of Egypt's parliamentary elections.
The coming parliament will be made up of 596 seats, with 448 seats elected through the individual candidacy system, 120 elected through winner-take-all party lists and 28 selected by the president.
Sources: MENA