2011–12 Egyptian parliamentary election

Prior to the elections there were concerns that a change to the electoral system would be required, as the pre-existing system would have favoured the National Democratic Party,[7] the party of Mubarak loyalists. The National Democratic Party was dissolved in April, however.

The proposed draft law for the electoral system to be used was revealed on 30 May 2011; controversially, it retained bloc voting for two-thirds of the seats, with only one third of the seats elected by proportional representation[8] (However, later it was changed as to two-thirds, 332 of MPs to be elected proportionally from lists).

On 7 July 2011, the caretaker government approved the new electoral law. It outlined a new 50–50 division between proportional seats and constituency seats; the minimum age limit for candidates is also to be reduced from 30 to 25.[9]

On 21 July 2011, the SCAF announced:[10]

• that the election (for both the People's Assembly and the Shura Council) would be held in three rounds in October, with 15-day intervals in-between;
• that half the seats would be reserved for laborers and farmers;
• that the women's quota introduced under Mubarak would be abolished.

In late September 2011, again new division was announced, in which only one third of the seats would be elected by bloc voting in two-seat constituencies.[11] However, constituency MPs could only be independents and not members of political parties; this restriction led to threats of boycotting the election by a wide swath of the political parties which intended to contest the election. The parties stated that their demands for a change in the electoral law would have to be met by 2 October, else they would boycott the election.[12][13] After a meeting with political party leaders on 1 October 2011, the SCAF agreed to allow party members to run for the directly elected seats, set a clearer timetable for the transition to civilian rule and possibly abolish military trials for civilians.[14][15]

On 11 November 2011, an administrative court in Mansoura ruled that former NDP members were not allowed to stand in the election as independent candidates. It was not immediately known whether this ruling would eventually apply to the whole country.[16] On 14 November 2011, the Higher Administrative Court in Cairo overruled the decision and allowed the former NDP members to stand.[17]

The election to the People's Assembly took place on the following dates:[18]

• first stage: 28–29 November,[19] run-off on 5–6 December;
• second stage: 14–15 December, run-off on 21–22 December;
• third stage: 3–4 January, run-off on 10–11 January.

There are a total 508 seats in the Lower house: 498 seats are elected, and 10 seats appointed, in this case, by the Military Council,[20] and usually by the President.

Under the parallel voting system used, out of 498 total seats, two-thirds, meaning 332, were elected by means of party list proportional representation. For these seats the public voted for parties or coalition-lists and the result was determined by the largest remainder method with a 0.5 percent threshold, in 46 districts.[21]

The remaining 166 seats were elected by bloc voting in two-seat constituencies, with the possibility of a run off.[6] In the election voters each cast two votes, which could not be for the same individual. These seats were open to candidates running as individuals, who might not be affiliated to political parties, numbering two per each of the 83 districts. Out of these, the new parliament must have at least half "laborers" or "farmers", while the "professionals" should constitute at most half of the parliament. If the winner of one of the two seats that are allocated to a certain district, is a "professional", the second seat in the district shall be handed to a "laborer" or a "farmer". Run-offs are assigned to the individual candidates who did not receive over 50% of the votes in the first round.[20] For a detailed explanation, see.[22]

Additional requirements for parties include listing at least one woman and adopting a specific visual symbol, as an alternative detection to help the illiterate voters.[20] The same voting procedures shall apply to the upper house's election, too.[20]

The election for the upper house, the Shura Council ("the Consultative Council") are to follow on 29 January 2012,[23] and will take place in 3 stages as well between 29 January and 22 February.[24] (process was sped due to ongoing protests).[25] Out of a total 270 seats in the Upper House: 180 seats are up for grabs and 90 seats shall be appointed after the presidential election, by the president-elect.[20] Following these elections, the parliament shall select a committee that will draft a new constitution for Egypt. The new constitution shall than be submitted to a referendum. Only then will presidential election be held, "no later than 30 June 2012" according to Hussein Tantawi's statement.

2011–2012 election stages:
  First: 28–29 November, run-off on 5–6 December
  Second: 14–15 December, run-off on 21–22 December
  Third: 3–4 January, run-off on 10–11 January

In the first phase of election, the voter turnout was 59%.[55]

First phase, 28–29 November

Large crowds turned out at the polling stations for the first stage of the polls. Such a turnout prompted the election committee to extend the hours of polling by two hours to end at 21:00.[56] A majority of the protesters in Tahrir square who had been at the sit-in after deadly clashes a week earlier, left their sit-in to join the polls before returning to Tahrir Square, although some boycotted the election.

Even before the government gave the official figures, the FJP's observers estimated a turnout of about 30 to 32 percent, for the first day, in the 9 governorates that voted in the first phase, while in Cairo, turnout was reported at about 27 percent. An "exceptionally high turnout" was also reported in the governorate of Asyut, especially among women.[57] On the second day of the first round, independent monitors placed the turnout at over 50 percent, while a spokesman for the military said that it could exceed 70 percent, maybe even reaching 80 percent. Abroad, turnout was around 60–70 percent according to the Egyptian foreign minister,[58] and when reading the official results the head of the election committee stated that the overall turnout was 62%, "the highest number since the days of Pharaoh."[59]

First phase run-offs, 5–6 December

The turnout was relatively low according to Al Jazeera, one of the reasons was that the Egyptians were not given a day off as they were given on 28–29 November.[60]

Second phase, 14–15 December

Early reports on the voting turnout indicated a high turnout of long waiting lines,[61] a repeat of the first PR phase voting day.[62][63] The turnout for the first round was 65%.[64]

Second phase run-offs, 21–22 December

Turnout for the run-offs of the second phase was 43%.[64]

Voter turnout was 62%.[65]

Note that various media sources report slightly different numbers. This is due to the fact that many "independents" and appointed MPs are party members, or joined established parties. In addition, some smaller parties fielded candidates on the official lists of larger allied parties.

• On 4 and 6 December, the result from the first phase of the proportional representation was released.[53][78] Although PR seats are assigned per district, party lists must pass a national threshold of 0.5% to be eligible to get seats on the district level.[22] The Egyptian authorities did release seat allocation for the constituency (bloc voting) seats.[79]

The number of PR seats shown in this table are unofficial calculations from Jadaliyya using the largest remainder method.[53] Unofficial results are italicised:

Notes: ¹Freedom and Justice list includes candidates from the parties of the Democratic Alliance for Egypt. ²Al-Nour's list includes candidates from the parties of the Alliance for Egypt ("Islamist Bloc"). ³Preliminary results, includes all but Cairo's party-list district No. 1 (10 seats), annulled by the Higher Elections Commission, and scheduled to re-vote on 10–11 January. ⁴Includes all but two races in Cairo's district No. 1, two races in Alexandria's district No. 3, two races in Assiut district No. 2 and two races in Assiut's district No. 3 (a total of 8 seats), scheduled for a re-vote on 10–11 January.[53]

In the second phase, various secular parties, including the New Wafd, Adl, Egyptian Bloc, and Revolution Continues, attempted to coordinate their efforts with regard to some constituency (bloc voting) seats.[81]

On 24 December 2011, official results were announced:[53][64][82][83][84]

Notes: ¹ Does not include the postponed or invalidated results of Aswan, Beheira (district 2), Sohag (district 2), and Menoufia (district 1). ² Does not include the invalidated results of Shaqiya's districts 5 and 2.[53]

Source:[53]

The PR votes were released by the official election committee.[85] Seats were computed by Jadaliyya.[53] The official results were then released by the supreme committee of elections.[86]

Note: Vote percentage reported for "Others" and "Former NDP Parties" is for those parties that won seats

A day after polls closed during the second phase of election to the lower house, clashes broke out again in front of the parliament and cabinet building in Cairo between security forces and several hundred demonstrators. The demonstrators were protesting against the appointment of a new prime minister by the military council, and against the arrest and beating of one of the protesters there.[87]

The commander of the military police was quoted as saying that the ruling military council was not taking sides during the second phase of the election to the lower house and "stands at an equal distance" from all the political groups contesting the elections: "The army has no interest to be served by siding with liberals or the Brotherhood or leftists or others."[88] [89]

Following reports that the FJP was likely leading in the first round of the election, with al-Nour in second place, the FJP denied it would seek an alliance with Al-Nour.[90]