Elections in Egypt

Elections in Egypt are held for the president and a bicameral legislature. The president of Egypt is elected for a six-year term by popular vote after draft amendments to the 2013 constitution altered the presidential term limits from the original four years to six years.^[1]

Suffrage is universal and compulsory for every Egyptian citizen over 18. Failure to vote can result in a fine or even imprisonment,^[2] but in practice, a significant percentage of eligible voters do not vote. About 63 million voters are registered to vote out of a population of more than 100 million.^[3] Turnout in the 2011 parliamentary election was 54%.^[4] Egypt was ranked 9th least electoral democracy in the Middle East and North Africa according to V-Dem Democracy indices in 2023 with a score of 0.175 out of 1.^[5]^[6]

Kingdom of Egypt (1922–1953)

The Kingdom of Egypt was granted nominal independence by the United Kingdom on 28 February 1922. Between the Declaration of 1922 and the Revolution of 1952, ten general elections were held (in 1924, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1945 and 1950).^[7] This era is generally known as Egypt's Liberal Experiment. Egypt has never recovered the level of political freedom it enjoyed during this period.^[8]

During the four elections held between 1924 and 1929, candidates from the Coptic Christian minority received 15 to 23 seats. Copts received four seats in 1931, six in 1938, 12 in 1945, and five in 1950.^[9] The opposition's share of seats also varied throughout this period. The opposition won 15.1% of the seats in the 1924 election, 18.9% in 1926, 6.9% in 1929, 18.1% in 1936, 12.1% in 1942, and 29.2% in the 1950 election, the last to be held before the 1952 Revolution which ended Egypt's multi-party system.^[10]

Electoral performance of the Wafd Party and Big Landowners during the monarchy^[11]
Electoral year	Total seats in the Chamber of Deputies	Wafd Party		Big Landowners
Electoral year	Total seats in the Chamber of Deputies	Seats won	Percentage	Seats won	Percentage
1924	214	181	84.6	93	43.5
1925	214	113	52.8	95	44.4
1926	214	172	80.4	105	49.1
1929	235	212	90.2	108	45.9
1931	150	0	0.0	58	38.7
1936	232	180	77.6	112	48.3
1938	264	14	5.3	131	49.6
1942	264	203	76.9	93	35.2
1945	285	0	0.0	123	43.2
1950	317	157	49.5	119	37.5

Elections under the Mubarak regime

2005 presidential election

Under the Mubarak era, the Egyptian presidential election of 2005 was the first-ever multi-party, multi-candidate contested presidential election in Egypt's history, made under the 2005/2007 constitutional amendments to the 1971 Constitution of Egypt. Despite its significance, the election was marred by voter fraud, ballot stuffing, boycotts, intimidation, vote-buying, and protests by opposition groups, leading to a low turnout of under 30%. Before the 2005 election, the president of Egypt was nominated by a two-thirds majority of the rubber-stamp People's Assembly and approved under a referendum process that resembles a show election in authoritarian countries.

2010 parliamentary elections

Under the Mubarak era, The People's Assembly and Shura Council were elected under an electoral system of single member plurality. Along with the combination of voter fraud, ballot stuffing, intimidation, and lack of judicial and international supervision, this ensured the NDP a super-majority win of seats for both houses. The Muslim Brotherhood was not recognized as a political party by the law, but its members were allowed to run as independents.

Latest elections

2020 Senate election

2023 presidential election

2020 parliamentary election

Next elections

Egyptian presidential elections are held using a two-round system; the next election should be held in 2024.

The House of Representatives sits for a five-year term but can be dissolved earlier by the president.

Referendums

The first referendum in Egypt was held on 23 June 1956. The electorate agreed with the adoption of the new 1956 constitution, and with the election of Gamal Abdel Nasser as President of Egypt.^[12]

References

^ Yeranian, Edward (14 February 2019). "Egypt's Parliament Moves to Extend Presidential Term Limits". VOA News. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
^ "Top stats for Egypt: Country profile". nationmaster.com.
^ "Egyptian elections preliminary results". jadaliyya.com.
^ "Muslim Brotherhood tops Egyptian poll result". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.
^ Democracy Report 2023, Table 3, V-Dem Institute, 2023
^ Caldwell, J. A. M. (1966). Dustūr: A Survey of the Constitutions of the Arab and Muslim States. Reprinted with additional material from the 2nd ed. of Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden: Brill. p. 29. OCLC 255757167. Retrieved 2010-07-21. There had been ten general elections held from 1924 to 1952. These were the elections of 1924, 1925, 1926, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1938, 1942, 1945, and 1950.
^ "Polity IV Regime Trends: Egypt, 1946–2008". Polity data series. Center for Systemic Peace. Retrieved 2010-07-21.
^ Mansour, Atallah (2004). Narrow Gate Churches: The Christian Presence in the Holy Land under Muslim and Jewish Rule. Pasadena, CA: Hope Publishing House. p. 110. ISBN 978-1-932717-02-0. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
^ Quandt, William B. (1988). The Middle East: Ten Years After Camp David. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. p. 75. ISBN 978-0-8157-7293-4. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
^ Ansari, Hamied (1986). Egypt, the Stalled Society. SUNY series in Near Eastern studies. Albany: State University of New York Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-88706-183-7. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
^ Marques, Alvaro; Smith, Thomas B. (April 1984). "Referendums in the Third World". Electoral Studies. 3 (1): 85–105. doi:10.1016/0261-3794(84)90025-8. ISSN 0261-3794. There have been 13 referendums in Egypt, the first one being held on 23 June 1956 when voters were asked to approve or disapprove of Nasser and the constitution.^{[dead link]}