Egypt: Over 53 million voters face fines for boycotting Senate election

Cairo: Millions of Egyptian voters, who failed to cast their ballots in a recent Senate election, will be referred to prosecution to pay a fine, an electoral commission has said.

Around 14.2 per cent of Egypt’s nearly 63 million registered voters participated in the Senate election held on August 11-12, according to the panel.

The voting was held amid strict measures against the spread of the new coronavirus.

Over 53 other million voters did not turn up for balloting, making them liable to pay a fine of 500 Egyptian pounds (Dh116), Egyptian media said Thursday.

The election commission said it would compile lists naming the voters who did not cast ballots and send them to public prosecution.

“The commission repeatedly stressed the necessity of going to polls. But some voters were lax and did not do their national duty in participation,” it added in a statement.

According to Egypt’s Political Rights Practice Law, non-participating voters face a fine of maximum LE500.

It will be the first time the penalty is enforced in Egypt that has seen a series of elections since the 2011 uprising.

The 300-strong Senate or the second chamber of parliament was revived in constitutional amendments adopted last year after it was scrapped in 2014.