egypt-final-presidential-elections-2012

The Carter Center
Presidential Election in Egypt
without possibility of appeal to a court or other
entity. During the electoral process, many
Egyptians expressed concerns about the exclusive
authority that the PEC possessed to decide
certain election-related matters. In barring any
possibility of appeal, even, for example, in cases
that could violate Egyptian citizens’ fundamental
right to vote or to equal suffrage, Article 28 of
the Constitutional Declaration is inconsistent
with Egypt’s international obligations. The Carter
Center recommends that lawmakers ensure that
there is an opportunity to appeal to an impartial
tribunal from any decisions taken by any election
management body.
4. Advance equal representation of women in
public affairs and in electoral administration.
Women remain underrepresented in decisionmaking
bodies in Egypt. There was only one
female judge serving on the PEC secretariat and
no female judges serving at the commissioner
level due to the ex officio nature of appointing
judges to the EMB and the absence of women at
the most senior levels of the judiciary. Therefore,
The Carter Center encourages authorities to take
concrete steps to include women in leadership
positions and hopes that women will become
a greater — and more senior — component of
Egypt’s judiciary in the years to come. The Carter
Center also encourages Egyptian authorities and
future EMBs to do more to ensure that female poll
workers are represented in every polling station
and in leadership positions at all levels of electoral
administration.
5. Ensure the enjoyment of the fundamental rights
to vote and to be elected.
Under the current legal framework, a number of
categories of Egyptian citizens are prohibited from
voting. They include those who turn 18 between
the date of closure of the voters’ list and election
day, people who have been declared bankrupt
in the last five years, Egyptians without national
identification cards, members of the military, and
others. The Carter Center suggests that lawmakers
reconsider these legal provisions to ensure that
voting rights are enjoyed by the widest possible
pool of eligible voters.
While women appeared to vote in considerable
numbers, recent studies indicate that as many as
3 million women of eligible voting age are not
registered to vote because they do not possess the
necessary national identification cards. The Carter
Center urges the government of Egypt and others
to ensure that women are not prevented from
participating in public affairs by the technical
barriers imposed by the national identification
system and take proactive steps to ensure all
eligible voters have access to the documentation
necessary to register.
Regarding candidate eligibility, The Carter
Center recommends that lawmakers and the
courts review the procedures for expunging
criminal records, including rehabilitating the
legal status of Egyptians convicted of crimes who
wish to run for political office. This is particularly
pertinent for Egyptians who may have received
politically motivated convictions under the
previous government so that they may regain
their eligibility as expeditiously as possible. The
Carter Center also encourages Egyptian leaders to
reconsider prohibition against running for president
for those Egyptians whose parents have ever
held non-Egyptian nationality or whose spouse
is a non-Egyptian. The candidate runs for office;
not his or her family. Therefore, he or she should
not be denied this important right because of the
nationality of others.
6a. Ensure that the electoral legal framework is the
product of a transparent, consultative process.
Prior to the election of the legislative People’s
Assembly in 2011, amendments to key electoral
laws were issued by the unelected SCAF without
public consultation or any meaningful transparency.
The Carter Center recommends that future
iterations of the legal framework for elections be
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