Several ambassadors of Egypt have announced the number of voters who cast their ballots in the first round of the parliamentary elections, while others have declined, leaving it to the High Elections Committee to announce. But most of them said distance was a major reason for weak participation.
Egypt's ambassador to Jordan, Khaled Tharwat, said 1,067 people cast their votes (945 in Amman and 122 in Aqaba), of which 74 votes were invalid.
He attributed the low turnout compared to the size of the Egyptian community in Jordan to the fact that many live in remote areas, which makes it difficult and expensive for them to participate.
The Egyptian embassy in Khartoum said 109 Egyptians in Sudan cast their votes, of which two were invalid, adding that the For the Love of Egypt list won 76 votes in the Upper Egypt constituencies, followed by four votes for the Egyptian Front Coalition, four for Egypt’s Call and one for the Awakening Bloc.
As for the Alexandria and the West Delta constituencies, the embassy announced that 23 people cast their votes, of which one vote was invalid, with 14 votes for the For the Love of Egypt list, six for the Egyptian Front Coalition and two for the Nour Party.
The Egyptian Embassy in London said 280 people cast their votes, of which four were invalid.
Essam Abdel Samad, head of the Egyptian Union in Europe, attributed the low turnout to the fact that the only voting station is in the embassy in London, which makes it difficult for residents from other cities or from Northern Ireland and Scotland to participate. However, he said turnout was better on the second day.
The British police had stepped up security in the vicinity of the embassy, fearing an outbreak of violence by the international organization of the Muslim Brotherhood, but the voting took place without incident.
Egypt's ambassador to Algeria, Omar Abu Eish, said only 30 people cast their votes, of which one was invalid, also attributing the low turnout to distance.
The Egyptian Embassy in Doha said that 2,000 people cast their votes and that the detailed result would be announced by the High Elections Committee.
Egypt's ambassador to Tunis, Ayman Mosharafa, said that turnout was average and that the detailed result would be announced by the High Elections Committee.
The Egyptian Embassy in Saudi Arabia also said the detailed result of the voting would be announced by the High Elections Committee.
Ambassador Afify Abdel Wahab praised the efforts of the Foreign Ministry and the Saudi authorities for organizing and securing the process.
Egypt's ambassador to Washington, Yasser Reda, said 146 people cast their votes, with 81 votes for the Upper Egypt constituencies, of which six were invalid.
He said the For the Love of Egypt list won 71 votes in Upper Egypt, followed by Egypt’s Call with three votes, Egyptian Front Coalition with one vote and Independence Stream with one vote.
As for the West Delta constituencies, Reda said 65 people cast their votes, of which two were invalid, adding that the For the Love of Egypt list won 56 votes, followed by Egypt’s Knights with four votes, Egyptian Front Coalition with two votes and Independence Stream with two votes.
For the Alexandria constituency, 65 people cast their votes, of which five were invalid.
The turnout percentage compared to the size of the Egyptian community in the United States was as little as 0.5 percent, forcing the embassy and consulates to urge people, through Facebook messages, to vote.
Some have said that the low turnout was because people mistrust the government, others said it was because there was no option to vote through a mailing system.
Egypt’s ambassador to Germany, Badr Abdel Aaty, said participation was below average.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
