After a year-long delay caused by legal gridlock and security concerns, Egyptians begin voting for a new parliament on Sunday.

The first phase of voting takes places in 14 governorates, and was already underway on Saturday for Egyptians living overseas.

In preparation, security forces and the army have been mobilised. The interior ministry announced on Friday that some 120,000 policemen and central security forces will safeguard Egypt's 18,945 polling stations. They will supplement the 185,000 army personnel who will be deployed around polling stations during the voting on Sunday and Monday.

The army announced on Saturday that 76,000 military personnel from the army's central command area in Cairo will help provide security for voters, judges and monitors in the Upper Egypt governorates.

"Elsewhere 12,000 from the Third Field Army will be deployed in the Red Sea governorate, and 28,000 members of the Navy and the Northern Command in Alexandria will be available to provide security in the West Nile Delta province," their statement said.

The statement disclosed that "army combat groups armed with automatic rifles will be available at every five polling stations to ensure voting is smooth and without bullying or thuggery."

Interior Minister Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar said security and army forces will be stationed outside polling stations to ensure a peaceful climate.

"The role of security forces is confined to providing security for the voting process, and they will be under the control of judges who are mandated to supervise the polls," said Abdel-Ghaffar.

Major-general Samir Abdel-Meguid, director of the interior ministry's elections department, told Al-Ahram Arabic newspaper on 15 October that the main role of security and army forces is safeguarding the polls against terrorism and bullying. "Security and army forces are not allowed to enter polling stations, but under direct orders of judges they can enter to deal with any bullying or foul play," he said.

Abdel-Meguid explained that security and army forces will be on high alert in certain constituencies where tribal or familial clashes are expected. "There are constituencies with high competition like Dokki and Agouza in Giza governorates or with high tribal and familial tensions like Al-Minya governorate in Upper Egypt or in Alexandria and Damanohour, the capital of Al-Beheira governorate in north and west Nile Delta, and these warrant strong security measures," said Abdel-Meguid.

Abdel-Meguid also indicated that security groups will comb the areas around polling stations on Saturday to make sure they are free from explosives.

Political and security experts blame the government for the one-year delay but agree the risks of holding parliamentary elections a year ago were high. Abdel-Meguid argues that a year ago terrorist groups like Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis in North Sinai posed a real threat to the nation. "But now, a year later, there is no doubt that the army has been able to degrade this group and leave much of its force in tatters," he said.

Abdel-Meguid believes the army's repeated attacks on Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis have left it largely cornered in North Sinai, with the military now imposing a tight grip on its movement.

"The vote in North Sinai and another 12 governorates will be held in the second half of November and until then security and army forces will be able to fully secure polling stations there," said Abdel-Meguid.

Security officials in coordination with the education ministry announced on Saturday that all state schools will take Sunday and Monday off as an additional security measure.

Deputy education minister Hossam Abul-Magd said because many of the schools will be used as polling stations it is wise for students not to attend during the two-day vote.

Minister of Justice Ahmed Al-Zend also said on Friday that judges who are constitutionally tasked with supervising the polls will receive special protection.

"Judges will not only be under the direct protection of security forces but also will enjoy life insurance [policies]," said Al-Zend.

"There will be a LE1 million life insurance for each judge for all kinds of death, including terrorist acts or political violence."

Khaled Okasha, director of the National Centre for Security Studies, agrees that Egypt's parliamentary elections were delayed not so much due to legal gridlocks as to security concerns.

"The removal of the Muslim Brotherhood regime in 2013 left Egypt in the grip of a number of different terrorist waves," said Okasha, adding that "Egypt has largely stabilised, and terrorist groups like Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis (ABM) have lost most of their power," Okasha said.

"The last high-profile terrorist act this group was able to implement was the assassination of former prosecutor-general Hisham Barakat on 29 June – three-and-a-half months ago," noted Okasha.

He indicated in a TV interview on Friday that the 16-day military operation in North Sinai called Martyr's Right was hugely successful in crippling ABM, who swore loyalty to ISIS a year ago.

"AMB has no effect in the Nile Delta now, and its power base in North Sinai will be eliminated soon," said Okasha.

Agreeing that authorities have largely quelled terrorism in Egypt, former interior ministry official Farouk Al-Miqrahi asserts that "even such terrorist groups as ABM and the Soldiers of Egypt (Agnad Masr) which caused havoc in the last two year have lost much of their capability in Cairo and the countryside, and do not pose a threat to the elections in the next three months."

However, Miqrahi told Al-Ahram Online he fears that "some sleeper cells – which security forces might not have an idea about – could resort to attacking security forces guarding the polls in the west Nile Delta. These cells were able to explode bombs and assassinate security personnel in different parts of Al-Beheira governorate in recent months and although of most of these cells' leadership has been arrested, the likelihood that other cells could mount terrorist attacks during the elections is still high," he said.

Al-Miqrahi also believes that ABM has been pinned back into North Sinai. "But I expect that ABM will only be completely obliterated when the army implements the second stage of the Martyr's Right," he thinks, and until then they "could be successful in launching attacks during the elections."

Amr Hashem Rabie, a political analyst with Al-Ahram, agrees that "the tangible improvement in security conditions in Egypt in recent months have allowed parliamentary elections to be held with minimum risk. Egypt has greatly stabilised in security and political terms, and this is good for peaceful elections," said Rabie.

Hoewever, he worried that "this is not enough to confidently say the polls will be fair and transparent."

"If thousands of security and army personnel have been mobilised to safeguard the elections, they should not be allowed in any way to interfere with the voting process," said Rabie.

Rabie said that in many previous polls, as reviewed by different Al-Ahram reports, judges have by no means been able to impose law and order on security forces.

"This was the norm under the Mubarak regime and it continued with the Muslim Brotherhood rule," said Rabie, stressing that "security and army personnel should not be allowed in any way to enter polling stations".