No violations reported on first day of elections: SIS

CAIRO – 27 March 2018: Foreign correspondents completed their media coverage of the first day of 2018 presidential elections, reporting no complaints, the State of Information Service (SIS) said in a statement.

Foreign corespondents faced no obstacles in gaining access to the polling stations, the statement added.

“During the period from 6 p.m. until polls close at 9 p.m., in a number of governorates staff from the SIS operations room communicated with representatives from 72 media outlets, out of which 50 are accredited resident correspondents, and no complaints have been received,” said the statement.

Staff of the operations room communicated with visiting correspondents representing 22 media outlets, who reported no complaints or hurdles during their media coverage, according to SIS statement.

On the other hand, Chairman of SIS, Diaa Rashwan, received in the headquarters of the operations room a number of resident and visiting correspondents who were unable to get permits to cover the elections.

"Most foreign media outlets asserted that the turnout will be the barometer of the process's success and the winning president to be, not the percentage that the winner will get," said the SIS report.

“Henceforth, instant contacts have been made with the National Elections Authority and permits were issued to a number of 16 correspondents,” according to the statement.

The statement added that SIS operations rooms work around the clock and keep on all communication channels open with all resident and visiting correspondents, with the aim of solving all problems that they may encounter.

SIS contacted 110 foreign media outlets on the first day of the voting process. The operation room received 19 complaints and inquiries from correspondents regarding their entrance to polling stations, and solved them all, according to the statement.

The total number of foreign reporters registered to cover the election in Egypt is 680, including both residents and those visiting. SIS allocated a hotline (16149) to receive complaints from foreign reporters.

About 60,000 journalists are working within Egypt, but not all of them are registered at the journalism syndicate as credible members.

SIS has reiterated that it continues to communicate with national and foreign correspondents, and helps to facilitate their media coverage.