Al-Sisi forms National Electoral Commission

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree on Tuesday to form the board of the National Electoral Commission (NEC), which is to supervise national elections and referendums in the country, state-owned Al-Ahram has reported.

The newspaper said that Al-Sisi’s decree, which follows articles 208, 209 and 210 of Egypt’s 2014 Constitution, sets out that the NEC board will be chaired by the deputy head of the Court of Cassation, Lashin Ibrahim. His deputy will be Mahmoud Al-Sherif, another official from the court. The executive director will be named today (Wednesday).

The NEC board itself will include the heads of the courts of appeal in Cairo and Tanta, two judges from the State Council, two others from the State Cases Authority and two from the Administrative Prosecution Authority. The commission will be officially and exclusively mandated with supervising all elections – presidential, parliamentary and municipal – and referendums in Egypt.

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Article 208 states that the NEC’s responsibilities range from preparing the country’s national voter lists and designating electoral districts to announcing the final results. Campaign rules and funding, the supervision of media coverage and facilitating poll operations are also included.