Presidential candidate Shafiq filed first appeal of elections voting

Ahram Online, Saturday 26 May 2012

Presidential candidate and ex-regime member, Ahmed Shafiq, files the first appeal of the elections charging that one of his representatives was not permitted to be present during vote-counting

Ahmed Shafiq
Mubarak's last Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq, centre, speaks to the media at the Ministry of the Interior in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday Feb.3, 2011.(Photo: AP)

Secretary General Hatem Bagato of Egypt's Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) stated on Friday that presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq filed the first appeal against the results of one of the polling stations in Shubra El-Kheima in Qalioubiya governorate.

Shafiq's appeal charges that the head of the polling station banned one of Shafiq's representatives from attending the vote-counting for an hour and a half while other campaign representatives were inside the polling station.

Bagato highlighted that the SPEC did not receive any appeals on final results other than from Shafiq, Mubarak's last prime minister.

The secretary general also pointed out that the SPEC is waiting for the final results from Aswan, New Valley (Al-Wadi Al-Gedid) and North Sinai governorates.

The last day to file appeals against the SPEC is on Sunday.

Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate, Mohamed Morsi and Shafiq  appear to have made it to the final, two-horse race in Egypt's hotly-contested presidential elections, after coming in first and second with 5,553,097 and 5,210,978 votes, respectively in the first round of balloting.

The results, expected to be made official on Tuesday, leave Egypt's secular, revolutionary forces in a quandary.

Article 28 of Constitutional Declaration, an interim constitution approved in March 2011, makes SPEC decisions irreversible and not subject to appeal.

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