The specter of staged crowds has returned to Egypt’s parliamentary elections, with long, unmoving queues outside polling stations promoted by pro-government media as evidence of enthusiastic voter turnout.
Wednesday marked the runoff round of the first phase of parliamentary elections, held across 1,775 polling stations in 20 constituencies across seven governorates. A total of 455 candidates are competing for just 43 seats.
Government-aligned broadcaster Extra News aired a video from outside a polling station in Imbaba, Giza, claiming voters arrived “at the stroke of 9 am” from “all age groups.” But for two and a half minutes, the camera showed an unmoving line of men and women—alleged “extras”—with no one entering or exiting the station.
State-owned newspaper Youm7, also part of the United Media Services group, ran a similar report under the headline: “Voter turnout increases in Imbaba runoff.” It published a photo of the static queue, claiming it is a surge in participation.
These tactics mirror patterns seen throughout both phases of the election, which Al Manassa documented on the ground—including vote buying, staged queues, and illegal campaigning near polling places.
Parties and watchdogs raise alarm
The Egyptian Social Democratic Party had called on the National Elections Authority to urgently investigate and halt what it described as “violations and breaches” of electoral standards.
Independent candidate Nashwa El-Deeb, a former MP running in the Imbaba and Warraq constituency, announced her withdrawal from the race just one hour after polls opened on the first day of voting. She cited “a lack of transparency, fairness, and pre-determined outcomes” in the electoral process.
“It’s not fair for elections to be decided before they even take place,” she said, describing clear irregularities and systemic bias in favor of establishment-backed candidates.
Her statement came before President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi called on the NEA to scrutinize violations in the first phase of voting. That led to the annulment of results in 19 districts. On Saturday, the Supreme Administrative Court issued 30 final rulings canceling the NEA’s decisions to declare winners in 30 other districts.
Interior ministry confirms arrests for vote-buying
By noon Wednesday, the Ministry of Interior had issued 15 statements about election-related violations, mostly in Beheira governorate.
In one case, authorities arrested two women near a polling station in Damanhour for possessing promotional cards for a candidate, which they allegedly intended to distribute to influence voters.
Another arrest followed the circulation of a video showing a man distributing campaign materials near a bakery. Police said he confessed to the act.
Five other residents of Damanhour were also arrested carrying campaign cards for the same candidate.
In Sohag governorate, police detained a woman and three men in Tahta. The woman allegedly held cash intended as voter bribes to be distributed among her companions.
Legal appeals surge after controversial results
Meanwhile, the Higher Administrative Court began accepting legal appeals against the NEA’s announcement of first-round results from the second phase of voting, which included 13 governorates, among them Cairo.
By 5 pm on Wednesday, the court had received 110 appeals from losing candidates, including three female party candidates — Lamees Abdel Alim (Conservative Party, Daher and Waily), Monica Magdy Bishry (Reform and Renaissance Party, Shubra and Bulaq), and Rasha Ali Abdel Rahman (Constitution Party, Shubra El-Kheima).
They demanded the annulment of their opponents’ victories and a rerun of elections in their constituencies, citing “gross violations and systematic fraud.”
Lawyer Mohamed Abdel Aziz, who filed the appeals, told Al Manassa he had documented open vote buying, violations of the legally mandated campaign silence, physical attacks on candidate agents, and the deletion of video evidence from their phones.
In her petition, Lamees Abdel Alim said she received just 700 votes—a number she described as implausible given her previous popularity, which had earned her over 9,000 votes.
Monica Magdy had also claimed ballot counters in Rod El-Farag tampered with software to inflate the vote tally of her rival, Mohamed Abdel Rahman Radi. Her appeal also noted use of “rotating ballots,” voter bribery, and intimidation of her campaign representatives.
In a similar complaint, Constitution Party candidate Rasha Ali said electoral supervisors refused to provide her with copies of ballot tallies and pointed to discrepancies between vote counts and official results.
Appealing candidates will await the Higher Administrative Court ruling in the upcoming weeks, given it had found grave NEA negligence in the first phase.
