Full of enthusiasm and high hopes for a better future, Egyptian expats continued to cast their ballots in the first presidential elections of the post-Mubarak era at the Consulate General of Egypt in Jeddah. Egypt's Consul General Ali El Ashiry mingled with the public at the main hall and listened to suggestions and complaints. He spoke to Saudi Gazette on the importance of ensuring a smooth voting process. Voting started on May 11 and will continue until May 17. The consulate general receives electorates from 8 A.M. to 8 P.M. According to El Ashiry, 102,703 electorates have registered at the Jeddah polling station, which represents 20 percent of the total registered electorates worldwide. “You can see, from the long lines of Egyptians who are keen to participate in creating a bright future for Egypt, how important this auxiliary polling station is. During the first three days, about 3,000 voters came to cast their ballots. We received an additional 1,500 ballots by mail. The numbers are increasing every day and more mail is expected today and in the coming days,” he said. Several voters who showed up with their birth certificates were not allowed to vote. El Ashiry urged electorates to bring their original national IDs and to make sure they cast their votes in the country they registered in. “The Egyptian Electoral Commission has been very flexible and has allowed electorates with a copy of their national IDs to vote. However, the rules are clear and we simply cannot allow people to use their birth certificates as proof of ID. If we violate the regulations, the polling station will come under review. Also, if electorates registered their location in Egypt, then they cannot vote in Jeddah. It is impossible to change the location once it is registered.” Addressing the incident where a voter who came to cast his ballot was told he had already voted, El Ashiry said it was an isolated incident and the consulate and Egyptian government were working to find out what went wrong. “It is a single incident that took place on Saturday where a man who came to cast his ballot found out his name had been marked as ‘already voted' in the e-database. When we checked the database hardcopy, there was no signature. I believe this is a technical glitch and we've already notified the electoral commission and they are trying find a legal solution. Everything is transparent and if the commission says he can cast his ballot, we will allow him to do so.” The vote-counting process will commence next week from Saturday and last until Wednesday during which the consulate will be closed. Three groups comprising of representatives of candidates, civil communities and media representatives have been approved by the electoral commission in Egypt to oversee the vote-counting process. __
