Voting began in the first of three rounds of parliamentary elections in Egypt yesterday but promises of a free and fair poll appeared compromised by reports of intimidation and irregularities in electoral rolls, Siona Jenkins reports.
Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (11 a.m. Irish time) and closed at 7 p.m. in the governorates of Alexandria, Beheira, Menoufiya, Ismailia, Suez, Port Said, Fayoum, Sohag and Qena.
In the port city of Alexandria, where members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood are standing as independents, opposition candidates claimed that police prevented them and their campaign workers from entering polling stations.
There were also reports that the names of dead people appeared on voting lists.
However, there were no reports of violence on the scale of 1995 elections, in which dozens died.
Nearly 25 million voters are entitled to cast their votes for the 4,134 candidates for 444 seats up for grabs. The final results will be announced in mid-November.
The next rounds of voting will be on October 29th and November 8th.