Despite the huge importance of Egypt's first post-revolution presidential elections, only a fraction of eligible voters abroad registered, reports Doaa El-Bey The election of the first post-revolution president is scheduled to start tomorrow with expatriates getting the first crack. But despite its immense significance the polls managed to attract only 587,000 expats out of eight million to 10 million registered eligible voters. The low registration was unexpected by Egypt's Foreign Ministry. "People repeatedly called for the right of expats to vote but still, unfortunately, the outcome was very low registration rates," Amr Rushdi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Embassies and consulates did all they could to ensure that all Egyptians were informed about procedural matters concerning the elections," Rushdi said. Unlike the parliamentary elections, Rushdi added, "the election committee this time allowed enough time for registration and for voting and tried to resolve various problems that faced voters in the previous election." It did not seem to make a difference. The registration opened from 5 March to 4 April. Later it was extended to 11 April because of a technical problem on the official registration website. The extension allowed time for more voters to register. The procedures were definitely easier than the parliamentary elections, said Azza Hassan who has been living in England for over 10 years. "It was not as challenging as the parliamentary elections, in which you had to get to know all the candidates. However, the disorder in the Egyptian scene, the mistrust between each and every political power and the accusations they heap upon each other made me feel I shouldn't bother to vote," Hassan said. "The fact that Article 28 gives the electoral committee absolute power discouraged me. Why bother to vote when the committee can take unilateral decisions and nobody can discuss them?" Hassan asked. Ahmed, a doctor in Saudi Arabia, decided to vote although many of his acquaintances would not. The performance of the Muslim Brotherhood in parliament and their attempt to monopolise power made him want to vote for a non-Islamist president. However, Ahmed thinks his job is not going to be easy given how strong and influential the Muslim Brotherhood is especially among the majority of Egyptian expats in Saudi Arabia. Another teacher in Kuwait who preferred not to mention her name, decided to vote for Ahmed Shafik. "I do not accept that we should not vote for him because he is a fulul [remnant of the former regime]. He has the experience to run the country unlike the other so-called 'Islamist' candidates," she said, adding she was against mixing politics with religion or choosing a president because of his religious background. Hisham, an engineer who went to the US seven years ago, said he took the trouble to drive over 100 miles in the parliamentary election to deliver his vote by hand. But he was shocked by the way the embassy staff treated him. "They showed no appreciation and very frustrating disinterest when they collected my envelope. I decided I would never vote again." "Embassies and consulates should exert more effort to link Egyptians to their countries," Hisham added. Many Egyptians, especially those who have been living abroad for decades, or second and third generations, are not fully connected to their country. A few commentators suggested that Egypt should introduce joint projects to have expats and their country more united and encourage them to visit more often. One big problem that faced expats especially in far flung countries like Australia was voting using national ID cards. "I was very enthusiastic about voting in the parliamentary elections, but I could not because I do not have a national ID," Mary, an Egyptian living in Australia, said. "I do not visit Egypt a lot and when I do, I do not have time to get an ID card," she said. However, the sub-par performance of the parliament and the chaos that Egypt has been embroiled in ever since that election made Mary less enthusiastic about voting in the presidential elections. There were demonstrations in the US and Canada last year and this year demanding that expats be allowed to vote using their passports instead of their national ID cards. After the revolution, the Interior Ministry dispatched committees to remote areas in the US and Canada to issue national IDs to expats. But the committees did not go everywhere and were not able to stay long enough in places to issue cards for expats who wanted them. Sarah, who works in Germany, has an ID but is not going to vote. "How can I vote for a president who has no outlined authority in a clearly drafted constitution? What should come first, the constitution that outlines the job of the president or a president who will wait until the constitution is drafted before knowing what his job entails?" According to the Presidential Elections Commission of Egypt (PEC), a total of 586,820 expatriates from 166 countries are registered to vote. Since registration opened on 5 March, a little less than 232,000 expatriates have registered their names, in addition to 355,000 who registered in the parliamentary elections. The first round of expatriate voting takes place tomorrow until 17 May, with the second round from 3 until 9 June. Voters are to download ballots from the elections commission website and e-mail them to Egyptian embassies and consulates. They can also go to embassies and consulates in person to cast their votes. The sorting out process will take place in embassies and the results sent to PEC by diplomatic post. Given that embassies in the parliamentary elections were short of staff "we will send 40 employees to Kuwait, 20 in the first round and 20 in the run-off, 20 to Saudi Arabia, 10 in the first round and 10 in the run-off, eight to Qatar, four in the first round and four in the run-off and two in Milan, one in the first round and one in the run-off," Rushdi said. The ministry did not send more staff to other diplomatic missions because no request was made. Saudi Arabia scored first in the number of expatriates registered with nearly 262,000 voters, followed by more than 119,000 in Kuwait, over 61,000 in the UAE, nearly 33,000 in Qatar, over 27,000 in the US, and nearly 12,000 in Canada. The controversy over the right of Egyptian expats to vote dates back to April last year when the Cabinet announced that Egyptians living overseas should be allowed to vote in presidential elections and public referendums at embassies and consulates as part of amendments to the law of political participation. In October, an Administrative Court ruled that Egyptians living abroad will have the right to cast their ballots in the parliamentary polls. One month later, Egypt's ruling military council passed a law regulating expat voting in parliamentary and presidential elections and in national referendums, allowing them to vote in embassies and consulates of the countries where they live. The low rate of registration could mean even lower rates of voting. Out of the 355,000 voters who registered in the parliamentary elections, only 120,000 took part in the first round of voting and less than half participated in the run-off. By extension this could mean that only one-third of the expats registered in the presidential elections will take part in the actual vote.
