Egypt's Election Drama: Votes Canceled in Many Areas

Egypt's recent parliamentary elections faced a big hiccup. Over a quarter of the votes from the first round got canceled. This happened because of some serious issues during voting. The elections are happening in two rounds. They aim to pick the final parliament for President Sisi's third term. The country uses a mixed system. Some seats are for individual candidates, while others are for closed party lists. The National Elections Authority (NEA) found problems in 19 out of 70 areas. Issues included ads too close to polling stations and missing vote records. The NEA boss, Hazem Badawi, shared these details in a press conference. President Sisi himself asked the NEA to check all problems carefully. He wanted to make sure the elections were fair and reflected the people's true choices. One party list, mostly supporting the government, made it to the ballot. This list got enough votes to secure seats in the first round. Turnout for the first round was quite low, around 23%. The second round of voting is coming up next week. It will decide the rest of the parliament seats.