Egypt Annuls First-Round Parliament Vote in Quarter of Constituencies Over ‘Violations’

CAIRO – Egypt annulled parliamentary votes in over a quarter of first-round constituencies on Tuesday in one of the most significant disruptions to a national election in recent years. Polls opened last week for the first of two rounds to elect the final parliament of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s third term, the last he is allowed under the current constitution. Under a hybrid system, seats are split between individual candidates and closed lists where the candidates are fixed. The National Elections Authority said on Tuesday that votes would be canceled in 19 of the 70 constituencies where individual candidates had competed in the first round, after appeals had been received and ‘violations’ documented.