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10 Official Gazette – Issue No. 8 bis (a) May 26, 2013 date in Egypt and under full judicial supervision. Mail voting shall take place in accordance with the rules, conditions and regulations by which a decision from HEC shall be issued". Whereas article (56) of the constitution stipulates that "The State shall safeguard the interests of Egyptians living abroad, protect them and protect their rights and freedoms, help them perform their public duties toward the Egyptian State and society, and encourage their contribution to the development of the nation. The law regulates their participation in the elections and referendums". Whereas the constitution introduced a new system for the supervision of the general elections and referendums and vested it in HEC in accordance with article (208) and determined its formation in article (209) thereof and article (210) stipulates that "Voting and counting of votes in referendums and elections run by the Commission shall be administered by its affiliated members under the overall supervision of the Commission's Board. Members shall be furnished with the necessary guarantees that enable them to perform their job with impartiality and independence. As an exceptional measure, the Commission shall delegate the supervision of voting and counting of votes to members of the judiciary for at least 10 years from the date the constitution came into force, all as regulated by law". Furthermore, article (228) of the constitution stipulates that "The High Elections Commission, existing at the time the Constitution comes into effect, shall undertake the full supervision of the first legislative elections. The funds of the Committee and of the High Presidential Elections Committee are transferred to the National Electoral Commission, as soon as the latter is formed". Based on the above mentioned texts the participation of the Egyptians living abroad in the poll should be under full judicial supervision, which is asserted in the beginning of article (16) of the presented draft law, while the end of this text which stipulates that mail voting shall take place in accordance with the rules, conditions and regulations by which a decision from HEC shall be issued infringes this principle adopted by the constitution, which stipulates that if the constitutional legislator vested the legislative authority with regulating a specific subject, the legislator may not disclaim this jurisdiction and vest it in HEC to set the rules and regulations governing mail voting. Thus, this article infringes the provisions of articles (55), (56) and (115) of the constitution. Tenth: article (22) of the presented draft law stipulates that "No modifications may be made to the voters' database after calling the voters for the election or referendum". Also article (30) of the same draft law stipulates that "The court clerk department shall notify the Security Director, the election committee in the governorate and the registration committees of the rulings issued on the modification of the voters' database within five days subsequent to the issuance thereof. All stated heretofore shall be subject to article (22). Based on the above and whereas the presented draft law provided relevant stakeholders with methods for reviewing the restrictions found in the voters' database, through a request to the Commission mentioned in article (26) of the law. It also allows them to appeal against the decisions issued by such Commission before the Administrative Court (Article 27 bis) and the Court decides on the appeal with a

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Shura Council Speaker request for constitutional review of the draft law regulating the exercise of political rights.

Judgment

Question Presented: Whether the draft law adheres to the current constitutional political protections.

Alleged Acts: The Shura Council Member filed suit in the Supreme Constitutional Court seeking review of the draft law that limited political rights and they exercise thereof. The drafted law; (1) distinguished between judicial bodies and branches and required the National Elections Commission to assign supervision of voting to judicial bodies; (2) permitted those unable to cast their ballot based on visual impairment or other disability to verbally state the vote to an election official who would record it on a ballot; (3) permitting the President to set the general election date by decree; (4) no modifications may be made to the voter database after the call for elections; (5) reforming the voting abroad system to begin counting before the actual date of elections.

Summary: The court determined that the differentiation between judicial bodies and branches was unconstitutional and required that they words be synonymous. Second, the court determined that all ballots must be direct secret votes, but that this supposes the voter is sighted. Thus, the court determined that the committee head signing the ballot paper violated the right to secrecy. Third, the court determined that Presidential decree violated the constitution because it diminish the integrity of election and removed powers from the Election Commission. Fourth, the court determined that restrictions on the right to voter were limited such those they unreasonably hindered political participation. Fifth, the court determine that the constitution provides protections for Egyptians living abroad and the restriction of voting before election day failed to adhere to these protections.

Conclusion: The court struck down portion of the drafted law and unconstitutional because they conflicted with the political protections set forth in the constitution.

Legal Issue(s)

Accessibility
Vote Verification and Transmission

Region: Middle East and North Africa

Country: Egypt

Language of Decision

English

Court: Constitutional Court

Election Type: Review of law

Date of decision: May 26, 2013

Geolocation

Latitude: 30.38327401

Longitude: 31.34626495

: Geolocation

Primary Documents

SCC ruling- some elec procedures and PWDs-May 2013 (English).pdf
English
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Election Judgments - IFES

Select target paragraph3

Shura Council Speaker request for constitutional review of the draft law regulating the exercise of political rights.

Primary Documents

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