As voting in Egypt’s presidential election came an end on Wednesday, the governorate of Beni Suef witnessed moderate turnout on the third day of voting, amid attempts by governmental bodies to boost the turnout.
In the Ahmed Kamel school, which was named after the army lieutenant who was killed by unknown assailants in 2014, dozens of men went in to vote, arriving in a truck driven by a man in a suit. Essam, one of the escorted men, ended up going to the wrong polling station. He blamed what he called the “Tahya Misr” (Long Live Egypt) campaign for sending him in the wrong truck.
The driver of the truck said that members of parliament in the area were the ones funding the drivers to “motivate people to go and participate.”
Inside the school, a former employee at Al-Ahram Foundation, named Sayed, told Daily News Egypt, “we should go and vote out of respect for the martyrs,” implying that voting will “bring back their rights.”
Another man, who was carried by his sons on a chair, arrived at the polling station and received welcoming applause from the gathering crowd outside. He repeatedly chanted “Tahya Misr” (Long Live Egypt).
His sons told Daily News Egypt that he insisted on coming to vote despite his deteriorating health conditions. Two of the three sons said they will not vote, while the third said he would if he has time.
At the Anwar Sadat School, an ambulance arrived carrying a senior citizen who was carried into the polling station on a stretcher. The man, who was not able to speak, cast his vote and was helped by the station coordinator.
A general in the Anwar Sadat School told Daily News Egypt that when security forces came on Monday to secure polling stations, they demanded that the governor remove all the posters around them as they are considered a campaigning violation.
As the polling stations opened at 9:00 pm, dozens were waiting in front of the Modern Preparatory School for girls. Inside the school, Mohamed, a student at Beni Suef University who voted, said that his participation is because he fears “Egypt will be dragged into violent plots.”
Mohamed had been participating in the campaigns that the university held to motivate students to go out and vote. He pointed out that the lack of attendance by young people is because awareness is spread in a top-down approach.
“Young people should see people of the same age giving them advice. Because if it comes from older people, they might not be responsive,” he said.