Voter turnout in Egypt’s 2025 Senate elections reached 17.1% of the 69.3 million registered voters, the National Election Authority announced Tuesday.
Judge Hazem Badawi, head of the NEA, unveiled the final results at a press conference, reporting that 11,837,882 voters cast ballots inside and outside the country.
The turnout marks only a marginal increase from the 2020 Senate elections, which saw about 14% participation.
Despite mobilization efforts at polling stations observed by Al Manassa during the two voting days, Aug. 4 and 5, the low turnout raises questions about political engagement.
In several Cairo districts, particularly in Maadi, Al Manassa reporters witnessed orchestrated crowds around polling stations that remained largely empty.
Outside the Al-Gomhouria Official School polling station in Maadi, volunteers in vests bearing the logos of Nation’s Future and the National Front helped direct voters and assisted with online polling location lookups. Others wore vests emblazoned with the “Haya Karima” (Decent Life) foundation.
Large groups of young men from working-class neighborhoods around Maadi loitered near the polling station without entering. They appeared to know each other, moving in groups and on motorbikes.
Pro-government coalition secures all list seats
Badawi announced that the National List for the Sake of Egypt won all four list-based electoral districts, having secured over the 5% threshold in each.
Candidate registration closed July 10, with 469 candidates contesting individual seats and a single list—the National List for the Sake of Egypt—vying for the 100 party-list seats.
The National List coalition comprises 12 parties led by the Nation’s Future Party, which secured 44 of the 100 seats. Homeland Protectors Party followed with 19 seats, and the National Front Party won 12.
Other parties received fewer seats: the Republican People's Party and the Egyptian Social Democratic Party each took five, while the Justice Party and Reform and Development Party won four apiece. The Will of a Generation Party secured one seat.
Vote-buying allegations surface
Crowds in front of the polling stations was not the only scene that distinguished the 2025 Senate elections. Al Manassa also observed “coupon” incentives being offered to voters. Outside Salah El-Din School in Nasr City, where banners for the Nation’s Future Party were flying, several women said they were told to remain after voting to redeem vouchers.
“One of the party people told me to wait here to get the coupon,” one woman said, pointing to others waiting seated along the school wall. She expected to receive a coupon for 300 Egyptian pounds (around $6).
The value of coupons ranged from 200 to 500 pounds, based on five reports to Al Manassa.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights also reported incidents of vote buying, including distribution of coupons and cash payments by party affiliates near polling stations. The group noted other election violations, such as campaigning in the vicinity of polling stations.
The Senate, Egypt’s upper house of parliament, comprises 300 members. One-third are elected through closed party lists, one-third via individual races, and one-third are appointed by the president.
The individual system covers 100 seats across 27 electoral districts, while the list system divides 100 seats across four national sectors. A minimum of 10% of the total seats are reserved for women.
