NCHR’s statement on the First Day of the Run-off 2020 Senate Elections

The Central Operations Chamber of the National Council for Human Rights and its branches across the governorates have concluded the follow-up to the first day of the run-off 2020 Senate elections (8/9/2020). The subsidiary chambers take place in the following governorates: Aswan, Sohag, Assiut, Beni Suef, Fayoum, Gharbeia, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, Kafr El-Shaikh and Al Qalyubiya. 

The runoff included 14 governorates where candidates vie for 26 seats: Al Qalyubiya ( 1 seat), Menofia (2 seats), Kafr El-Shaikh ( 2 seats), Giza (1 seat), Beni Suef  (1 seat), Assiut (3 seats), Sohag ( 5 seats), Qena ( 3 seats), Luxor ( 2 seats), Aswan (2 seats), Damietta (1 seat), Port Said (1 seat), Ismailia ( 1 seat) and Matrouh ( 1 seat) 

The field trips continued during the second day, where the most notable observations of the missions were as follows: -

 Accessibility for elders and persons with disabilities in most of electoral committees.

Campaigning in front of committees in some electoral districts in Port Said. 

Some supporters of a certain candidate in Tukh in Qalyubia distributed food bags on voters. 

Preliminary indications after the first day’s voting suggest that there was an average participation by voters in general and there was an increase in number of voters, especially in the constituencies that are the electoral domicile for the candidates competing during the run – of. However, some electoral districts witnessed a decrease in number of voters, due to the following reasons:

Decrease in the number of candidates in the electoral districts included in the run-off. 

Some candidates didn’t make enough campaigning during the run-off. 

The National Council for Human Rights keeps in contact with the Communications Officer at National Elections Authority to report any observations. The council receives timely responses regarding the observations, including the response of the President of the National Elections Authority to solve a problem for one of the local observers at a civil society in Sohag.