- Election Coverage
- November 21, 2005
- 3 minutes read
The Election Process in el-Behaira
The Election Process in el-Behaira
The security bodies in el-Behaira applied many tough measures to hinder the turnout to cast their votes. The polling centers, for example, were opened an hour late. Voting process, in addition, was very slow. Therefore, many voters got bored and left without casting ballots.
Unexpectedly, a supervisory judge in el-Dlongat district said that only voters, who will elect the National Democratic Party’s nominee, will be allowed to give vote.
In an obstructive action, some supervisory judges insisted on having the electoral cards with voters besides the IDs.
In addition, a supervisory judge persisted to put the polling box beside him and to cast ballots personally. He refused, upon a protest of an agent, to place it on a table, but he changed his mind when he knew of media presence.
In another polling station, a supervisory judge admitted that he is against the Islamic current so he slowed voting procedures down, in order to waste time.
Surprisingly, some police men forced voters to swear that they will select the NDP’s nominees.
In the district in which the Moslem Brotherhood’s nominee, Abdul Hamed Shoker, is greatly baked, numerous voters were not able to cast their votes because judges insist to have the family names in the electoral registers.
In an odd action, four foreign reporters were detained. In addition, their cameras were taken from them.
Furthermore, numerous citizens suffered from suffocation as a result of tear gas used to cover the process of replacement of the polling boxes, while the legal ones were moved in an ambulance.
These were some tricks used by the ruling party, the NDP, to diminish the chance of victory of the candidates of the Islamic current, in the wake of the great success achieved by the Moslem Brotherhood in the first phase of the parliamentary election.
Besides, detentions, beating and insulting were the tools of the NDP to fight the immense popularity of the Moslem Brotherhood in the second stage.
In a sign of protest, Gamal Heshmat, the MB nominee in Damanhor, along with dozens of his supporters staged a sit-in in the General Electoral Commission.