Electoral Commission Will Bar Only Suspended Or Investigated Judges From Supervising Referendum

Only judges who are under investigation or have been suspended from duty will be barred from supervising elections, a source in Egypt’s electoral commission told Al-Ahram Arabic.

“Egypt’s electoral commission will not prevent any judge from supervising the upcoming constitutional referendum,” the source said.

The same source added that judges from the Independent Judiciary Movement will participate in the supervision of the constitutional referendum scheduled for 14-15 January, despite accusations that they are supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi.

It had been previously reported that the commission had excluded members of the Judges for Egypt and judges who signed the so-called “Rabaa statement” that was against the ouster of former president Mohamed Morsi. The Judiciary Club had requested the electoral commission to exclude them and 75 more judges.

The source explained that the electoral commission is currently examining the distribution of judges supervising the referendum around Egypt, and that they would soon notify about 15,000 judges the name and location of their assignment.

Medhat Idris, secretary general of the electoral commission, also announced that in addition to thumbprints to prevent voter fraud, a number of stations in Cairo will have card readers to scan national ID cards to ensure voters are at the right location and have not voted previously.

Source : Ahram