Egyptians flock to polling stations on 2nd day of Senate run-off elections

CAIRO – 28 August 2025: A total of 1,357 polling stations across five Egyptian governorates—Gharbia, Beni Suef, Luxor, Ismailia, and the New Valley—opened their doors on Thursday for the second and final day of voting in the runoff round of Egypt’s 2025 Senate elections.

The National Elections Authority (NEA) confirmed that judges supervising the polling stations received all ballot materials and arrived at their designated locations early Thursday morning. According to the NEA, the voting operation proceeded smoothly at most stations without any major interruptions.

Polling stations are open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., with a scheduled break from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

On August 12, the NEA announced the second round and runoff of the 2025 Senate elections. Ten candidates are competing for five individual seats, each allocated to one of the five participating governorates.

About 7,821,517 Egyptians are eligible to vote in the Senate runoff, distributed as follows: The total number of voters registered in the database in Gharbia is 3,631,916; the total number of voters registered in Beni Suef is 2,080,140; ​​the total number of voters registered in Luxor is 915,863; the total number of voters registered in Ismailia is 999,248; and the total number of voters registered in the New Valley is 194,350. Voting takes place in 1,357 polling stations across the five governorates.

This runoff follows the first round of the 2025 Senate elections, held on August 1–2 for Egyptians abroad and August 4–5 for domestic voters. In that round, 195 out of 200 seats were filled.

The Senate comprises 100 individual seats and 100 seats filled through a closed-list system.

The National Unified List, the sole party list in the elections, secured all 100 closed-list seats unopposed, meeting the legal threshold of 5 percent of the vote.

Over 50 percent of the candidates on the National Unified List belong to the Mostaqbal Watan (Future of the Homeland) Party and the Homat Al-Watan (Guardians of the Homeland) Party, both known for their strong support of national institutions and government policies.

In the individual seat races, 95 candidates were elected in the first round, including 81 from the Mostaqbal Watan and Homat Al-Watan parties.