egypt-final-presidential-elections-2012

The Carter Center
Participation of Women
Women were underrepresented
throughout
the Egyptian
presidential electoral process.
First and foremost, none of the
23 candidates who attempted
to register as presidential candidates
and, consequently, none
of the 13 candidates who made
the final ballot, were women. 131
There was also a noticeable lack
of participation by women during
the campaign phase. At several
campaign rallies witnessed
by The Carter Center, there
were no women at all present.
On a more positive note, there
was a significant percentage of
female candidate agents present
in polling stations during voting,
approaching 40 percent of agents for the second
round of voting.
Egypt should take further steps to prevent discrimination
against women, as required by its international
obligations. 132 PEC members, all senior judges,
were exclusively men due to the ex officio nature of
appointments and the overwhelming prevalence of
men among senior Egyptian judges. Only one woman
judge was a member of the General Secretariat that
served the election management body. According
to the PEC’s secretary-general, the PEC prioritized
allocating Egypt’s women judges and prosecutors to
polling stations before allocating the male judges
and prosecutors so as to achieve maximum female
participation. 133 However, women judges are a recent
phenomenon in Egypt, and they tend to be both a
small percentage of and junior members of the judiciary.
The Carter Center hopes women will become
a greater, and more senior, component of Egypt’s
Program manager Avery Davis-Roberts and co-leader Abdel Karim al-Eryani fill out a
checklist as a woman casts her vote during the runoff.
judiciary in years to come. Women should also play a
greater role in a future EMB, in which senior appointments
are not ex officio in nature.
There are many (mostly rural) women who remain
disenfranchised because they are not included in
the national identity database and, as a result, are
prevented from being registered to vote. In some
parts of Egypt, cultural and historical factors, the
availability of birth certificates, and awareness of
eligibility for or access to the civil registration process
131 Broadcaster and activist Bothaina Kamel did attempt to be nominated
to run for the presidential elections but failed to collect the required
amount of signatures.
132 U.N., Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, Article 3; UNHRC, General Comment No. 28, para. 3.
133 The PEC reported that there were approximately 1,200 women judges
and prosecutors available. According to the PEC, the total number of
judges and prosecutors in Egypt is approximately 15,000.
Maurice Chammah
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