Déjà vu in Egypt’s parliamentary elections

The opening of Egypt’s first phase of House of Representatives elections on Monday closely resembled the recent Senate vote: polling stations with more volunteers than voters, artificially staged crowds, widespread violations, and repeated allegations of vote buying.

Just as in the Senate elections last August, electoral engineering was evident, with regime-aligned parties dominating the process. In that race, all individual seats were secured by candidates from Nation’s Future, Homeland Defenders, the National Front, and the Republican People’s Party. A quick look at the current individual candidate lists reveals a nearly identical pattern, suggesting that this latest vote is, in essence, a carbon copy of the last.

The structure of the vote itself contributed to the day’s atmosphere. Half the seats are allocated via closed-list voting, where a single list made up of pro-government parties, select opposition groups, and the Coordination Committee of Parties’ Youth Leaders and Politicians/CPYP is allowed to compete. Competing lists were eliminated in advance, ensuring a lack of genuine political contest.

Vote buying was rampant, with prices ranging from 200 to 250 pounds (roughly $4 to $5), often accompanied by bags of food supplies. Some voters said the price could rise to 500 pounds ($10) on the second day of voting.

Closed and open races

Electoral districts fell into two types. In “closed” constituencies, pro-government candidates went unchallenged for a guaranteed win. In “open” constituencies, Nation’s Future and its allies chose not to contest every seat, leaving space for opposition and independent candidates; Al Manassa chose to observe voting in the latter.

The first phase covers 14 governorates, including Giza, Alexandria, Fayoum, Minya, Assiut, and Aswan, and continues for Egyptian voters through today.

Vote price in Omraneya

In Omraneya, four candidates are fiercely competing for two individual seats, leading to a spike in the vote price. Voters told Al Manassa that prices ranged from 200 to 250 pounds, mirroring rates observed in August’s Senate elections. According to voters outside the polling stations of the Omraneya school complex, the price could rise to 500 pounds on the second day.

The four candidates were Mahmoud Lamloum of Homeland Defenders, former parliamentary economic committee deputy head Mohamed Ali Abdel Hamid (running as an independent after Nation’s Future opted not to contest the seats), and independents Gergis Lawendy and Sayed Zaghloul.

A voter explained that the campaigns of Lamloum, Lawendy, and Zaghloul paid 200 pounds per vote, with part of that sum often taken by brokers who mobilized and transported voters. Abdel Hamid’s campaign reportedly offered 200 pounds for men and 200 pounds plus a food bag for women, with the price rising to 250 pounds later in the day.

Each campaign reportedly deployed cars marked with the candidate’s image to ferry voters to polling stations. After casting ballots, voters would stop at campaign headquarters or nearby NGOs to collect their payments.

Voter manipulation in Boulaq El-Dakrour

In the Boulaq district, where three seats are up for grabs, candidates from Nation’s Future and Homeland Defenders faced competition from a representative of the liberal-oriented Justice Party and independent incumbent Mohamed El-Husseiny, who defied his party after being excluded from its list.

El-Husseiny, now running independently with a bus as his electoral symbol, hopes to retain his seat. But the district appears tightly controlled due to backroom agreements between pro-government factions.

The three officially endorsed candidates were: incumbent MP Hossam Mandouh El-Husseiny and Mahmoud Toshka, both from Nation’s Future, and newcomer Araby Ziyada from Homeland Defenders. Nation’s Future reportedly ceded one seat to Homeland Defenders as part of those behind-the-scenes arrangements.

By midday, the turnout was moderate. At polling stations like Sheikha Gawaher, Taha Hussein, and the Azhar Primary Institute, dozens of women and elderly voters arrived in microbuses bearing campaign posters.

Outside polling stations, campaign banners covered the streets. While young people handed out flyers and waved flags representing the National Front, Nation’s Future, and Homeland Defenders, others were giving away meals.

Inside polling centers, party representatives, some wearing blue vests emblazoned with Nation’s Future’s logo, guided voters towards preferred candidates.

Amidst all this, two heads of polling stations at Taha Hussein Primary School told Al Manassa that voting was proceeding smoothly, with no logistical problems. They confirmed that Braille ballots were available for visually impaired voters.

Serious violations

Observers and opposition parties echoed Al Manassa’s findings. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party called on the National Elections Authority to investigate a series of what it termed “serious violations.”

In a statement, the party said its monitoring team documented multiple infractions, including pro-government parties distributing campaign materials around polling stations and offering food boxes as bribes to sway voters.

The statement also cited instances where candidates and their representatives were barred from entering polling places, undermining the principle of equal opportunity and raising concerns over the integrity of the process. It also documented organized efforts inside polling centers to steer voters towards specific candidates aligned with the regime.

The violations were widespread. In Assiut, for instance, campaign posters and food boxes were distributed at Al-Thawra School and Al-Nasr School. In Giza, violations were documented outside several schools, including Ahmad Orabi, Um Al-Mu’mineen, Al-Sadat, Hoda Shaarawi, and the Martyr Hesham Sheta School. In Beni Suef and Luxor, campaign monitors were expelled from polling stations, temporarily halting the vote.

In one village in Sohag, residents staged a subtle act of protest. Outside the campaign headquarters of a parliamentary candidate in Awlad Ismail, villagers were seen in a social media video holding banners that read, “Our town is not for sale.”

Back in Giza, independent candidate Nashwa Eldeeb withdrew from the race just one hour into voting in protest of what she described as a predetermined and opaque process.

Eldeeb, who was running in Imbaba and Gharb Al-Munira, cited “clear violations, a lack of transparency, and predetermined results.” She said, “How can an election be decided before it even takes place?”

Eldeeb had been running against Nation’s Future’s Walid El-Meligy, Conservative Party candidate Ehab El-Khouly, and independents Shadia Thabet and Ahmed El-Agouz.

Orchestrated scenes in Imbaba

In Imbaba, where voting took place across 24 schools, turnout was noticeably low throughout the day. Outside polling places on El-Wehda Street, El-Muallimeen Street, and the Nile Corniche, Al Manassa witnessed staged gatherings: groups of women and young people gathered outside under the supervision of Nation’s Future youth members, photographed or filmed with drones, then quickly dispersed and transported to another location.

No direct vote buying was seen outside Imbaba polling stations. Several voters told Al Manassa they received no compensation for casting their ballots. However, at a nearby café, a man was seen handing out money to a group of young people apparently supporting one candidate in exchange for their visible presence outside polling centers.

Campaign material for other candidates was limited compared to that of Nation’s Future’s Walid El-Meligy and the Conservative Party’s Ehab El-Khouly. Posters for various candidates were seen on taxis and tuk-tuks throughout the area.

Defying the ban on campaigning near polling places, El-Khouly posted a video on Facebook showing voters holding his campaign cards outside one school. “The real votes aren’t in talk,” he wrote. “They’re in the street.”

With runoff elections slated for early December and a second phase set to follow later in the month, the path ahead appears procedurally intact but politically predetermined.

The State Information Service reported “significant international media attention” for the opening day of the elections and also noted “oversight by local and international civil society.” A delegation of international observers from Algeria and Japan toured polling stations in Giza with a member of the National Elections Authority. However, significant international monitoring of Egypt’s elections ceased after 2014.

On paper, Egypt’s House of Representatives consists of 596 members—split between individual races, party lists, and presidential appointees. In practice, the final makeup of the parliament seems shaped less by voter will than by the careful choreography of power.

The National Elections Authority is expected to announce the final results by the end of December. But for many Egyptians, especially in districts marked by vote buying, exclusion, and protest, the outcome may already feel written.