By Menna Majd
In a proactive move to ensure transparency and facilitate media coverage, Egypt’s State Information Service (SIS) has officially established a central operations room dedicated to monitoring the voting process in the upcoming 2024 Presidential elections. This announcement was made by Diaa Rashwan, the head of SIS, in a statement released on Thursday.
The primary objective of the operations room is to streamline the elections’ media coverage for foreign media representatives.
Operating round the clock throughout the three-day voting period, Rashwan emphasized its commitment to providing real-time information and assistance to foreign media outlets. The operations room will work in close coordination with the National Elections Authority (NEA)’s central operations room.
The NEA, having greenlit the participation of 24 embassies, 67 diplomats, and 220 international observers, along with 68 local organizations and 22,340 local observers, continues to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring a fair and transparent electoral process.
Moreover, the NEA has granted approval for 4,218 media observers, representing a diverse array of agencies, newspapers, channels, and media outlets, to cover the upcoming elections comprehensively.
Domestic voting is scheduled to take place from December 10th to 12th at 11,631 sub-committees across 9,376 polling stations nationwide, as outlined by the NEA. The authority has diligently prepared to assist citizens in casting their votes, whether at polling stations or through its website.
Notably, voting abroad has already taken place from December 1st to 3rd at Egyptian diplomatic missions across 121 countries.
The list of candidates includes incumbent President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, running for a third term with a star as his electoral symbol. Farid Zahran, the leftist opposition Social Democratic Party candidate, features the sun as his symbol. Abdel-Sanad Yamama, representing the Wafd party, uses the palm tree as his electoral symbol, while Hazem Omar, the candidate from the People’s Republican Party, is symbolized by the ladder.
The NEA is set to announce the final election results on December 18th, unless a runoff is required. The State Information Service remains committed to providing transparent and timely information, ensuring the public and media are well-informed throughout this crucial electoral process.
