egypt-final-presidential-elections-2012

The Carter Center
Presidential Election in Egypt
Deborah Hakes
President and Mrs. Carter observe poll closing on May 24, 2012.
voters who were still in the queue at the time of
closing were turned away without the chance to vote,
contrary to PEC procedures and to commonly recognized
international good practice to take all necessary
steps to ensure that citizens
can exercise their right to
vote. 166 During the second
round, witnesses reported
that far fewer polling stations
closed earlier than 9 p.m.,
and only in rare cases did
judges prevent voters still
in the queue from casting a
ballot. As with the opening of polling stations, it is
important that judges and poll workers understand
the importance of keeping polling stations open for
the duration of official hours. The Carter Center
recommends that senior electoral authorities discipline
those who fail to comply with these procedures
without cause.
Closing on the First Day of Voting: Polling stations
closed efficiently on the first day of voting. Carter
Center witnesses reported a noticeable improvement
by polling station staff in following the procedures on
Polling stations closed efficiently
on the first day of voting.
sealing the ballot boxes from the first
to the second round as well as the safe
storage of election of materials in a large
majority of polling stations. Despite the
abovementioned early closings, overall,
Carter Center witnesses characterized
the closing of polling stations as
adequate in a large majority of cases.
Closing on the Second Day of Voting:
Procedural irregularities 167 during the
closure of polls on the second day of
voting were cause for significant concern
during both rounds of the presidential
election. Of utmost concern was the
failure of polling station staff to allow
voting to come to a close before beginning
the counting process, in some cases beginning
counting even while voters were continuing to
cast their ballots. This occurrence was witnessed in
approximately 10 percent of polling stations visited,
a small but significant
percentage. Beginning votecounting
while voters are
still voting — thus opening
the door for miscounts and
manipulation — goes against
international good practice
as well as common sense.
Future election management
bodies should take steps to ensure that this practice of
counting during voting ceases to safeguard the principle
of universal and equal suffrage. 168
166 U.N., ICCPR, Articles 2 and 2(2)
167 Across both rounds of the presidential election, the poll closing was
free from interference in almost all cases, with a few occasions where
security officials or candidate agents created confusion (by causing
disturbances or engaging the judge in a way that took away from official
duties) or engaged in intimidation of Carter Center witnesses.
168 U.N., ICCPR, Article 25 (b); U.N., Human Rights and Elections:
A Handbook on the Legal, Technical, and Human Rights Aspects of
Elections, para. 63
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