Turnout for Sunday's parliamentary election run-offs did not exceed 5 percent, local and international human rights organizations said on Monday.
Rights groups also complained that the will of the voting public had not been respected; that the elections had lacked guarantees for being conducted in a free and fair manner; that international standards of democratic practice had not been applied; and that the elections had been held in the absence of any kind of impartial supervision.
Rights watchdog Observers Without Borders noted that the elections had been marred by numerous security and administrative interventions and had been largely rigged in favor of the ruling National Democratic Party, prompting the liberal opposition Wafd Party and the Muslim Brotherhood to boycott the second round.
According to the Egyptian Alliance for Monitoring Elections, which includes 123 NGOs, voter turnout in the first round of elections did not exceed 14 percent, while this week's run-offs saw voter turnout of less than 5 percent.
The alliance went on to attribute the low turnout figures to the lack of confidence in a fair electoral process on the part of the voting public.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
