- Election Coverage
- November 16, 2005
- 2 minutes read
Police Besiege the Count Commissions
Police Besiege the Count Commissions
Before the end of the polling day of the reelection of the first phase of the parliamentary election, the riot police along with State Security officers siege count commissions.
In the districts of Cairo, Giza and Assute, the polling boxes are transferred under tight security guard. The representatives of human right organizations are prevented from attending the count process in the districts of Mazkhona and Atfeeh.
In Kerdasa district, the riot police block the count commission preventing the agents of the Moslem Brotherhood candidates to observe the voting count. In addition, citizens rally before the commission chanting with encouraging words for judges.
Meanwhile, backed by the Moslem Brotherhood, some news agencies disclose their intention to air the voting count process to avert any ballot fraud.
In el-Harm district, the access to count commission is denied for the agents of Hamed el-Said, the MB nominee, along with the representatives of human right organizations and media.
The polls, in the eight governorates in which run-off election are held, are closed after the end of the polling day. They witnessed large-scale infringements committed by the candidates of the National Democratic Party, by their supporters, and by security and administrative bodies.
In unconformity with a court ruling, the judges of the southern districts of Giza governorate persist to count all boxes at once, not box by box. In fact, the court ruling states that “agents and proxies of candidates shall attend and supervise count process, starting from opening boxes, adding count of votes, taking notices, till the announcement of the outcome.”