CAIRO: A total of 35, 000 Egyptian expatriates cast their votes in the first two-day round of the 2015 Parliamentary elections, registering 5.1 percent, Parlmany reported a Cairo-based Egyptian High Elections Commission (HEC) official Monday.
The eligible expatriates’ number reached more than 680,000 people, according to previously announced figures for previous presidential and parliamentary elections.
The expats’ voting ended Monday morning at 6:00 a.m. local time, and the highest turnout of voters was recorded in Kuwait with 12,600 votes, the anonymous official added.
Total of 139 Egyptian embassies and consulates worldwide have been allocated for the expats who have the right to vote without prior registration.
According to the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s statistics, there are more than 8 million Egyptian expatriates abroad.
Per the HEC rules, the eligible expatriates of the first round are those who were born in 14 governorates of Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Asyut, the New Valley, Sohag, Qena , Luxor, Aswan, Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira, and Marsa Matrouh.
The highest turnout of the Egyptian voters abroad reached more than 600,000 in 2012 presidential elections in which former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi won. During the 2014 presidential elections, the number of expatriates’ votes registered 318,000 persons.
Notably, Egypt has witnessed very low turnout domestically in the first round, although the government provided facilities for 27 million eligible voters, as well as giving half-day off Monday.
The second round is scheduled for Nov. 22 and 23 in the governorates of Cairo, Qalubia, Dakahlia, Menoufia, Gharbia, Kafr El-Sheikh, Sharqia, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai, and South Sinai. Meanwhile Egyptians outside Egypt will vote Nov. 21 and 22.
Egypt’s House of Representatives will comprise of 596 members, with 448 to be elected as independents, 120 through the winner-take-all party lists system, with 28 seats to be appointed by the president, HEC said.
Egypt’s parliament was consists of two houses: Shura Council (upper house) and Peoples’ Assembly (the lower house); however, Shura Council cancelled and the Peoples’ Assembly was named the House of Representatives in 2014.