The Egyptian Embassy in Amman and the Consulate in Aqaba opened their doors at 9 am on Monday for the Egyptian expatriates to cast their ballots in the run-off for the first phase of the parliamentary elections which will take place until Tuesday.
Turnout was weak, however.
Only 1,067 expatriates cast their votes, with 945 votes in Amman and 122 votes in Aqaba, of which 72 votes were invalid.
Ambassador Khaled Tharwat attributed the low turnout to bad weather and to the fact that many live in remote areas, which makes it costly for them to go to Amman or Aqaba.
The first phase includes Giza, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut, the New Valley, Sohag, Qena, Luxor, Aswan, the Red Sea, Alexandria, Beheira and Marsa Matrouh.
The second phase, scheduled for November 21 and 22, includes Cairo, Qalyubiya, Daqahlia, Monufiya, Gharbiya, Kafr el-Sheikh, Sharqiya, Damietta, Port Said, Ismailia, Suez, North Sinai and South Sinai, with the run-off on November 30.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
