Egyptians started on Tuesday morning voting in the Senate elections amid tight measures against the coronavirus.
The vote, which takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday, is being held in 11,500 polling stations across the nation.
The number of Egyptians who are eligible voters is 63 million.
The polling is being supervised by 20,000 judges assisted by 120,000 station clerks.
Egypt’s Armed Forces has put in place security measures along with the interior ministry to secure the Senate elections.
The measures are being taken in coordination with the civil police forces of the interior ministry and the National Elections Authority (NEA) to ensure a safe climate for citizens casting their ballots during the two-day vote
Meanwhile, the health ministry is providing around 2,800 ambulances and around 7,000 medical staff across some 17,000 polling locations nationwide.
New chamber
The election of the new second parliamentary chamber for Egyptians living abroad took place in 124 countries on Sunday.
A total of 787 candidates are competing for seats in the new legislative body, which was created as per the 2019 constitutional amendments.
The Senate, whose term is set at five years, will have 300 members.
Two-thirds of the members will be elected via the individual candidacy and the closed party list systems, and the rest will be appointed by the president.
The results of the first round of voting will be announced 19 August.
Coronavirus precautionary measures
The NEA said that sterilisation measures at polling stations began on Monday at 11 am, with the disinfection to be carried out again after the end of voting on the first day.
It includes a full disinfection of areas were voters are present, including the polling stations, offices, ballot boxes and tents outside polling stations or any waiting areas for voters.
The authority has installed disinfection gates in front of every polling station to ensure the safety of voters against any viral infections, especially COVID-19.
The NEA had announced on Saturday that it will make wearing facemasks mandatory inside polling stations for the senate elections.
It said that all those participating in the electoral process are required to wear masks and abide by social distancing inside polling stations, including the heads of polling stations, candidates’ representatives, media personnel and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) representatives.
The authority is providing facemasks inside polling stations to allow voters to participate in ballot casting.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
