Aswat Masriya (Cairo)

Egypt: Voting Turnout in Referendum 32.9 Percent - Election Commission

Photo: Amru Salahuddien/Xinhua
Egyptian electoral commission supervisors and judges count votes at a polling station.

About 33 percent of all eligible voters cast their vote in Egypt's constitution referendum, head of the commission overseeing the referendum Judge Samir Abul Maati said on Tuesday.

Out of 17,058,317 voters (32.9 percent), 10,693,911 voted "yes" (63.8 percent) is while 6,016,101 voted "no" (36.2 percent).

The number of valid votes is 16,755,012 while that of invalid votes is 303,395.

The first round of the referendum took place on December 15 in 10 governorates and the second took place on December 22 in 17 governorates.

At the press conference announcing the final results, Abul Maati said that commission members were chosen according to the law, adding, "We were not chosen for our persons, but for our positions."

The commission received complaints from different bodies about violations that occurred during the voting process, Abul Maati said.

The reported violations included the absence of judicial supervision, the invalidity of the procedures, violations outside polling stations, and the prevention of observers and journalists from entering polling stations, he explained.

Abul Maati stated that the commission is only responsible for receiving and examining these complaints and resolving them, adding that "the general prosecution is the only body that can investigate electoral crimes."

"After examining complaints, the results of some sub-committees were annulled because of flaws that require annulling their results," Abul Maati said.

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