Egypt's Supreme Electoral Commission (SEC) Secretary-General Zaghloul El-Balshi suffered from a health problem in his office on Tuesday and was transferred to the International Eye Hospital in Cairo.

According to Hisham Raouf, assistant to the Minister of Justice, the hospital will conduct medical tests to assess El-Balshi's treatment and decide if he needs surgery.

It is not yet clear what kind of health problem the secretary-general is suffering from.

Raouf said the doctors will decide when El-Balshi can return to work. He also denied reports, circulating since Tuesday morning that El-Balshi has resigned from his position.

However, he confirmed that El-Balshi will oversee the second phase of the referendum poll, slated for Saturday, 22 December.

The first phase of Egypt's referendum took place on 15 December across 10 governorates. Unofficial final results of the first round show a 56.5 per cent approval for the draft charter, while 'No' votes reached 43.5 per cent.

The second phase of voting includes 17 governorates.