The presidential veto issued by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, followed by reruns in a large number of constituencies, brought to light procedural flaws that had weakened confidence in the first round and made corrective action necessary.
Rerunning elections in nearly 70 percent of constituencies in this phase had a clear political and institutional impact. It helped rebuild trust in the electoral process and reduced the risk that the new parliament would face persistent disputes over the integrity of its results.
The reruns also sent a broader message: the errors that were discovered were not part of a permanent system failure, and voter choice remained the decisive factor.
In practical terms, the corrective process aimed to ensure that no candidate entered parliament with unresolved doubts about legitimacy.
When the numbers changed
Comparing vote totals from before annulment with those recorded after reruns shows large differences in several constituencies.
These changes coincided with a sharp drop in voter turnout during reruns. This decline appears to have been influenced by widespread rumours claiming that the elections were fundamentally flawed or that the process might be cancelled altogether.
In Al-Qusiya constituency in Assiut governorate, the difference between the first round and the rerun exceeded 100,000 votes for some candidates.
Ibrahim Nazir, for example, received more than 143,000 votes before annulment but only around 32,000 votes in the rerun. Youssef Al-Haggar’s total fell from about 141,000 votes to roughly 42,000. These shifts raised questions about the reliability of the original tallies and about the reasons many voters stayed away from the reruns.
A similar pattern appeared in Dokki and Agouza. Major General Kamal El-Daly, who had reportedly won more than 40,000 votes in the first round, received only 2,646 votes in the rerun.
This case drew attention because El-Daly had announced his withdrawal from the race before the annulment decision, then returned one day before the rerun without a detailed public explanation. The seat was ultimately won by Hisham Badawy with 7,649 votes, in a constituency with more than 700,000 registered voters.
Resetting the process
Observers noted changes in how the NEA and other state bodies managed the reruns.
The NEA held frequent live briefings, every two hours, to address complaints submitted by candidates or their representatives. Real-time monitoring of general committees via video conferencing enabled faster intervention and limited the accumulation of unresolved disputes.
Security measures were also expanded around polling stations. The Ministry of Interior increased deployments beyond polling sites and acted against attempts at illegal mobilization, coercion, and vote-buying.
Several cases were detected, those involved were arrested, and the incidents were referred to the Public Prosecution, signalling stricter enforcement during reruns.
The reruns also highlighted the challenges faced by party-backed candidates in consolidating victories in annulled constituencies.
In the 19 constituencies annulled by the NEA, most parties failed to secure seats in the first round.
Nation's Future Party won three seats, while the Republican People’s Party and Homeland Defenders Party advanced to reruns in four seats each.
The National Front Party and Al-Nour Party moved to reruns in three seats each, while independents secured three seats in the first round.
Turnout, appeals, and new parliament
Turnout in the 30 constituencies annulled by the Supreme Administrative Court remains a key indicator.
In the October and Al-Wahat constituency, which has around 730,000 registered voters, participation reportedly stood at about 15,000 voters, or roughly two percent.
In Al-Montazah constituency in Alexandria, around 36,000 voters participated out of more than 1.26 million registered voters, a rate below three percent.
In Boulaq Al-Dakrour, where Ali Khaled and Mohamed Ismail won the two seats, turnout was about 23,000 voters out of 680,000 eligible voters, or close to four percent.
Party candidates lost the majority of seats in these constituencies. Nation's Future Party won three seats but lost six; the National Front Party won one seat and lost nine; and the Homeland Defenders Party won one seat but lost four.
Before reruns, the Nation's Future Party fielded 122 candidates across the first and second phases, winning 48 seats, advancing 63 candidates to reruns, and losing 11.
Homeland Defenders Party fielded 68 candidates, won 14 seats, entered reruns with 32 candidates, and lost 22.
The National Front Party ran 45 candidates, won 10 seats, lost 16, and advanced 19 candidates to reruns.
The Republican People’s Party fielded 11 candidates, won three seats, lost one, and entered reruns in seven seats. Al-Wafd Party secured one seat.
The legal basis for annulments was outlined in decisions issued by the NEA and the administrative judiciary.
Grounds included procedural violations such as failure to deliver official vote-count records to candidates’ representatives, discrepancies between subcommittee tallies and results announced by general committees, and complaints related to unlawful practices outside polling stations.
All complaints were referred to the Court of Cassation to assess their impact on outcomes.
In the second phase, the Supreme Administrative Court reportedly reviewed 257 appeals. It replaced one candidate with another in Talkha constituency in Dakahlia, rejected 217 appeals, declared it lacked jurisdiction over 37 appeals and referred them to the Court of Cassation, and dismissed two appeals on procedural grounds.
These outcomes suggested that reruns addressed many earlier deficiencies and reduced legally consequential errors.
Attention also focused on the composition of the National Unified List for Egypt, which won seats in the House. The list included eight former ministers affiliated with three parties.
Four ran under the National Front Party: former housing minister Assem El-Gazzar, former agriculture minister El-Sayed El-Quseir, former local development minister Mahmoud Shaarawy, and former minister of legal and parliamentary affairs Alaa Fouad.
Three ran under the Nation's Future Party: former petroleum minister Tarek El-Molla, former health minister Ashraf Hatem, and former manpower minister Mohamed Saafan. Former civil aviation minister Mohamed Abbas ran under the Homeland Defenders Party.
These figures are expected to take on influential roles in parliament, particularly as chairs of key committees. This would mark a clear change from previous parliaments, which included fewer former ministers.
Overall, the figures cited across constituencies and appeals point to one conclusion: the corrective intervention triggered by the presidential veto and implemented through reruns and enhanced oversight aimed to prevent the formation of a parliament whose legitimacy could be challenged from the outset.
The reruns functioned not merely as a repetition of electoral procedures, but as a mechanism to reinforce institutional credibility and ensure representation more closely reflects verifiable voter choice.
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