Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development
Registered no. (5469 – 2004)

The Egyptian Association for Supporting Democratic Development demands that the Upper Parliamentary Elections Committee ensures the integrity of each phase of the Parliamentary election

The Egyptian Association for the Support of Democratic Development (EASD) monitored the voting process during the first phase of Parliamentary elections on November 9, 2005 with 145 monitors in 22 districts throughout 5 governorates.  EASD is producing a comprehensive report on the findings of their monitoring efforts throughout Egypt, which acknowledges positive developments such as the neutral stance of state security and their non-interference on behalf of any ruling party candidate for the first time in the history of Egyptian Parliamentary elections.

On the other hand, the report clearly points to violations that took place, threatening democracy and the integrity of the electoral process, and defying the electoral law and instructions issued by the Upper Parliamentary Elections Committee (UPEC).  Consequently, EASD demands that the UPEC, in light of its authority, carry out the necessary procedures to facilitate the electoral process in the upcoming run-off election and in the remaining second and third phases of the Parliamentary election:

* Allow civil society organizations to monitor every stage of the electoral process, from voter registration to the vote counting and announcement of results;
* Apply the law pertaining to the electoral campaign expenditure ceiling, which is set at 70,000 EGP per candidate;
* Ensure election officials do not allow candidates to campaign inside or outside the polling station premises;
* Ensure election officials provide curtains or other measures to guarantee the secrecy of the vote;
* Make certain that election officials post voter registries in a visible location at every polling station;
* Make certain that election officials allow citizens to vote only if they have proper identification and a pink voter card;
* Ensure election officials obtain signatures or fingerprints from voters next to their name on the voters’ list;
* Make certain that election officials require voters to dip their finger in indelible ink after casting their ballot;
* Ensure election officials prevent voters from using their mobile phones to take pictures inside the polling station, as this method was widely used in the vote-buying process;
* Ensure election officials allow the presence of candidate agents when transporting the ballot boxes from the sub-polling station to the general polling station for the vote counting;
* Make certain election officials at the general polling station allow candidate agents to monitor the counting of the votes;
* Ensure election officials at the general polling station count the votes in one ballot box at a time in front of the candidates or their agents;
* Ensure election officials at the general polling station announce the result of each ballot box by itself;
* Make certain election officials at the general polling station do not leave the room where the counting is taking place and that the counting process is not stopped for any reason until the results are announced.

Address-6 Hussein Ahmed Rashad Street, from Adnan Sidki Street off of Tahrir Street, in front of the National Center for Research
Doukki, Giza
Phone   +(202) 3353270
-Fax no. + (2023389537
E-mail : easd_2004@hotmail.com