Egypt’s Supreme Administrative Court on Sunday annulled the results of the first round of parliamentary elections in 28 constituencies, increasing scrutiny of a vote already clouded by allegations of irregularities and fraud.
The court, the country’s highest authority on electoral and administrative disputes, issued its ruling in the early hours of Sunday morning. It means results have now been voided in 47 districts since polling began in early November. Seventy constituencies took part in the first round of the election.
Nineteen constituencies were annulled earlier by the National Elections Authority (NEA), which referred to “substantial defects” in counting procedures. In its decision, the court acted on nearly 200 appeals filed by candidates and representatives who made allegations of breaches including forgery and vote-buying.
Judges reviewed tallies submitted by general and subcommittees after ordering the NEA to attach all counting records to the case files. Verdicts issued by the court are final and must be implemented immediately under Egyptian law.
Judicial sources said the court dismissed about 100 appeals for lack of legal standing and referred 59 others to the Court of Cassation due to jurisdictional issues. That emphasised the sheer number of disputes filed over the election.
The 28 districts where polls must be re-run are mainly within governorates that participated in the first phase of voting on November 10 and 11. Another round of polling was held last week for 73 constituencies across 13 of Egypt’s provinces, including Cairo. The results and the integrity of the vote have not yet been reviewed.
The NEA is required to organise new elections in the 26 annulled areas and to apply improved supervision and procedures. No timeline has yet been announced after the court’s ruling, but previous re-runs ordered by the authority had been scheduled abroad for December 1 and 2 and in Egypt for December 3 and 4, with the results due on December 11.
The parliamentary election has been mired in controversy since it began, with social media awash with accusations of breaches including vote buying and ballot tampering.
Sunday’s ruling came after two weeks of sharp scrutiny over Egypt’s two-stage parliamentary vote. On November 17, President Abdel Fattah El Sisi urged the NEA to investigate reports of vote buying and ballot-box tampering and to annul any results that did not reflect the will of voters.
The authority complied hours later, announcing the following day that it voided results in seven governorates and pledged full transparency in handling breaches.
Officials hope the cancellations will restore confidence in a process expected to deliver a legislature broadly supportive of Mr El Sisi.
The court ruling poses a logistical challenge for the NEA as it moves to complete balloting before the House of Representatives convenes in January, sources added.
