The Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) has announced that the results of the first phase of parliamentary elections will be released on Friday.

The results will cover total vote counts for the nine governorates which voted in the first phase on November 28-29.

The SEC was expected to announce the results in a press conference on Thursday evening but officials decided to postpone it because the counting process has still not been completed in many constituencies.

The elections will be conducted over three stages, each involving polling in nine governorates (out of total 27 governorates).

Run-off elections are held a week later between front-runners in single-seat races where candidates failed to garner 50%+ of the total vote.

Exit polls and preliminary vote count show that the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafists are expected to finish 1st and 2nd in the first phase with the liberal Egyptian Bloc a distant 3rd.