Egyptians headed to the poll stations after a turbulent year last Saturday and Sunday, June 16 and 17, to choose between the last standing candidates, Mohamed Morsi, president of the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) and Ahmed Shafik, long-time Civil Aviation Minister under the Mubarak regime.After votes were counted in 97 percent of the poll stations nationwide yesterday, M0rsi held a press conference in the morning declaring his victory in reaching Egypt’s highest office. Though the Presidential Elections Commission (PEC) will announce the official results on Thursday, the FJP released a tally which indicates that Morsi have won over Shafik by 51.89 percent of the votes — something Shafik’s campaign denied and promised an official complaint for the premature celebrations and announcements.
The PEC has announced this morning that up until yesterday, they have only received the results of 17 out of 27 governorates and that the results spread by both Morsi and Shafik’s campaigns couldn’t be accurate.
According to Ahram Online the turnout, excluding Cairo, stands at 49.5 percent, which makes it unexpectedly higher than the first round. The numbers increase to 50.1 percent when taking into account Cairo and Giza governorates.
Speculations predicted that Shafik would certainly win the elections, particularly when he held a confident press conference after the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling the illegitimacy of the Isolation law. Speculations grew stronger as the Parliament was dissolved last Thursday, June 14, especially given the belief that the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) supports Shafik’s candidacy.
Governorates choices varied. But all in all, Morsi led in most of them, according to the unofficial count.
By the governorates
Cairo: Shafik, 51.5%
The results of Cairo came in last, and secured a 51.5 percent win for Shafik in the capital, his birthplace. According to preliminary results, however, the difference is not enough for him to win the bid as he secured 1,880,160 votes while Morsi got 1,505,136 — a difference of 353,000 votes.
Giza: Morsi, 59.7%
Morsi secured 1,351,846 votes in Giza while Shafik secured 911,884 votes only. The Giza results came as a surprise as many thought the two urban cities, Cairo and Giza, would have chosen the same candidate given their residents’ similar economic classes and education.
Alexandria: Morsi, 58%
Expectedly, in the Salafist and Brotherhood stronghold Alexandria, Morsi won 993,146 votes while Shafik secure 717,460 votes — a difference of 171,606 votes. During the first rounds, however, Alexandria had chosen Hamdeen Sabahi and former Brotherhood leading member Abdel Moneim Abolfotoh.
North Sinai: Morsi, 61.5%
In North Sinai, Morsi received 58,376 votes, which put him ahead of Shafik who got 36,496 votes. The governorate’s capital, Al-Arish, doesn’t depend on external tourism, but rather local tourists, which means it wouldn’t have necessarily chosen the more liberal candidate, Shafik.
Sharkiya: Shafik, 54.8%
On the other hand, Shafik surprisingly led the votes in Sharkiya governorate, the hometown of both candidates and known for being a longtime Muslim Brotherhood stronghold. Shafik won 1,074,262 votes, while Morsi only received 882,978.
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Suez: Morsi, 62.7%
Expectedly, in Suez, a governorate known for its staunch support for the January 25 Revolution, the voter turnout was low and largely in favor or Morsi. Shafik only received 76,724 votes, while Morsi won 129,221 votes.
South Sinai: Shafik, 50.4%
In South Sinai as well, both candidates received a low number of votes, but with only a slight difference in numbers. The slight win for Shafik was unpredicted since it was believed that the Brotherhood’s candidate would get a minimal amount of votes in a tourism-dependent governorate that is also the home of approximately 7,000 Copts. A possible explanation is that those working in the tourism industry of South Sinai normally come from different governorates and so couldn’t bear the costs of travelling back to their own governorates to vote. Shafik received 12,502 votes, only 284 votes more than Morsi, who got 12,284 votes.
Red Sea, Shafik, 50.6%
Also unexpected in a tourism-dependent governorate, Shafik only won by 1,183 in the Red Sea where Shafik secured 47,987 votes while Morsi secured 46,804. The slight win for Shafik also came as a surprise given the candidate came in third in the first rounds while Morsi came in fifth.
Marsa Matruh: Morsi, 73.8%
Morsi had a sweeping win in Marsa Matruh, securing 65,094 votes compared to Shafik’s 23,066 votes. The win was expected given that Matruh’s candidate of choice in the first rounds of elections was Abolfotoh, winning over 50 percent of the votes.
Menoufeya: Shafik, 71%
Shafik secured a sweeping win in Menoufeya, one of his strongest governorates, winning 808,877 votes while Morsi won 329,182 votes. The results were similar to the first rounds of the elections.
Aswan: Morsi, 51.9%
Also unexpected in the tourism-dependent governorate, Morsi won 164,873 votes while Shafik won 152,554. The results, however, were no different than the first rounds where Morsi also won first place, although the difference between the two candidates was slight compared to the first rounds.
Luxor: Shafik, 53%
Shafik won 140,175 votes in Luxor while his opponent secured 124,134 votes in the tourism-dependent governorate that was hit hardly by the turmoil of the January 25 Revolution.
Morsi also led the votes in Alexandria (993,164), Fayoum (591,700), Beheira (905,878), Minya (859,221), Sohag (531,364), Assuit (553,975), Kafr El Sheikh (426,156), Qena (287,071), Damietta (258,475), Ismaliya (204,316) and El Wadi El Gedeed (39,894).
In the meantime, Shafik won the majority of votes in Dakahleya (1,052,52), Port Said (130,122), Gharbiya (991,324) and Qalyoubia (855,975).
Editor’s Note: These results are only preliminary, unofficial results, and the numbers may vary from one source to another.
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