Egyptian expats to vote for Senate elections by mail starting Sunday

Egyptian expats will start voting on Sunday and Monday by mail for the Senate elections, the National Election Authority (NEA) said on Friday.

The NEA said mail-in voting will only be allowed for voters who registered their data on the authority’s website last month, with the authority providing ballot papers on Sunday and Monday, starting at 9am, through its website.

Voters abroad will be able to print their ballot papers by entering their registration code on the authority’s website.

They will receive two ballot papers: one to select a candidate from the individual list system, based on their electoral district, and one for selecting from the closed list system.

Both ballot papers must be placed in envelopes with a voter declaration, photocopies of the voter’s national ID card or passport, and residency documents, and sent via express mail to the electoral committee of their country’s diplomatic mission.

A total of 787 candidates are competing for seats in the new legislative body.

The Senate will have 300 members, one third of which will be elected via the individual candidacy system, another third through the closed party list system, and the final third to be named by the president.

Their tenure is set at five years.

The polls in Egypt will open on 11-12 August.

The results of the first round of voting will be announced on 19 August.

Second round votes will be on 8-9 September, while the results will be announced on 16 September, the NEA said.

Senate elections will be followed by elections for the House of Representatives.