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Amendments to the Elections Laws

Amendments to the Elections Laws
The race for parliament has begun. On the 31st of August, the Supreme Council on Elections ("SCE") officially announced that parliamentary elections are to be held in two phases, starting on 18 and 19 October and ending on 22 and 23 November.[1] The SCE also started accepting applications from potential candidates running for office.[2]  These decisions came a month after the government had passed its amendments to the 2014 electoral laws in July 2015. The recent amendments (the “Amendments”) were necessitated by the Supreme Constitutional Court ("SCC") decisions back in March, which declared certain articles of the 2014 electoral laws unconstitutional.
Background
The date of the parliamentary elections has been the subject of much debate for the past two years. According to Article 30 of the 2013 Constitutional Declaration, parliamentary elections should have been called for no later than two months after the new constitution has been approved. Since the constitution has been approved in January 2014, parliamentary elections should have taken place sometime around March 2014. It was not until January 2015, however, that the Supreme Council on Elections (SCE) announced that elections were to be held in March and April 2015. The SCE is a seven-member judicial body created by Article 228 of the Constitution and tasked with overseeing elections. The procedures of the elections they called for were based on three main electoral laws that were newly drafted in 2014, namely the Electoral Districts Law, the Council of Representatives Law (commonly referred to as Parliament’s Law), and the Law on Exercising Political Rights. In March 2014, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) declared Article 3 of the Electoral Districts Lawunconstitutional. Less than a week later, the SCC also held Article 8 of the Council of Representatives’ Law unconstitutional insofar as it forbade dual citizens from running as candidates. In response, the president requested the government to prepare amended drafts of the relevant laws by April 2015. The Amendments, however, were not completed until the end of July 2015.
The New Amendments on Elections Laws
Constitutionality Amendments The July Amendments to the elections laws came to address the SCC’s decisions. In order to account for the unconstitutionality of Article 3 of the Electoral Districts Law, the number of districts had to be increased and the districts had to be redistributed. This was done by amending Article 2, resulting in an increase in the number of electoral districts dedicated to individual seats from 237 to 250. Additionally, the districting schedule appended to the law was changed to reflect the newly redistributed districts. To that end, Articles 1 and 3 of the Council of Representatives Law were also amended to increase the overall number of representatives from 540 to 568. It also increased the number of seats dedicated to candidates running as individuals from 420 to 448. Article 8 of the Council of Representatives Law was also amended to no longer restrict eligibility for candidates with exclusive Egyptian nationality. Other Major Amendments The most notable amendments were made to the Law on Exercising Political Rights, although it was not found unconstitutional by the SCC. For instance, significant changes were made to Article 2, which pertains to the categories of citizens who are temporarily prohibited from exercising their political rights. The Article prohibits any person who has been convicted of committing a specific list of crimes from exercising their rights. The Amendments prolonged the duration of the prohibition from 5 to 6 years. Furthermore, the Amendments stipulated that persons convicted of evading taxes through a final decision of the criminal court will also be subject to the same prohibition. Prior to the amendment, only those whose convictions were upheld by the Court of Cassation, the highest judiciary body in Egypt, were subjected to the prohibition. These can be seen as positive alterations that serve to impede candidates with criminally questionable backgrounds from easily being in positions of power. Additionally, there is a general prohibition on revising the voters’ database once voters have been called for election. The only exception includes any court-mandated revisions or if it were for the purposes of omitting the names of the deceased, as long as that occurred at least 15 days prior to election day. The Amendments omitted the phrase that necessitated the 15-day requirement, which means that the voters’ database can be altered at any time before the elections. On the one hand, this could lead to a voters’ database that more accurately reflects reality. On the other, it could allow for last minute manipulation of the database that would be more difficult to detect before elections day. Lastly, Article 33 necessitated that media outlets licensed to work in Egypt broadcast or publish any polls related to elections in accordance with “professional standards”. It also prohibited them from publicizing any polls related to the elections during the three days prior to Election Day. The Amendments expanded these regulations to include any organization licensed to work in Egypt. It also expanded the 3-day publication ban to apply on anyone who publicizes their polls during that time. Minor Amendments There were, however, further amendments that were not contingent on the SCC’s decisions. Some of them were incidental such as amendments to Article 25 of the Law on Exercising Political Rights, which increased the electoral campaign-financing cap for party-lists that are allotted 15 seats from 1 million to 2.5 million and added a cap to party-lists that are allotted 45 seats at 7.5 million. Conclusion On the 31st of August, it was officially announced that parliamentary elections are to be held in October and November of this year (2015). As of to date, the new Parliament will be constituted of 596 seats, 448 of which will be elected through competition over individual seats, 120 will be elected through a closed list system, while 28 members will be appointed by the president. The former unconstitutionality of some of the elections laws’ articles, as declared by the SCC decisions in March 2015, has been corrected by legislative amendments that were finalized in July 2015. These changes must be read together with the Government’s declared commitment to hold elections before the end of 2015.   [1] Supreme Council on Elections Decision No. 65/2015 on Elections Announcement, Official Gazette, Issue No. 35 (bis)., 31 August, 2015. [2] Supreme Council on Elections Decision No. 67/2015 on Accepting Nominees, Official Gazette, Issue No. 35 (bis)., 31 August, 2015.
The race for parliament has begun. On the 31st of August, the Supreme Council on Elections ("SCE") officially announced that parliamentary elections are to be held in two phases, starting on 18 and 19 October and ending on 22 and 23 November.[1] The SCE also started accepting applications from potential candidates running for office.[2]  These decisions came a month after the government had passed its amendments to the 2014 electoral laws in July 2015. The recent amendments (the “Amendments”) were necessitated by the Supreme Constitutional Court ("SCC") decisions back in March, which declared certain articles of the 2014 electoral laws unconstitutional.
Background
The date of the parliamentary elections has been the subject of much debate for the past two years. According to Article 30 of the 2013 Constitutional Declaration, parliamentary elections should have been called for no later than two months after the new constitution has been approved. Since the constitution has been approved in January 2014, parliamentary elections should have taken place sometime around March 2014. It was not until January 2015, however, that the Supreme Council on Elections (SCE) announced that elections were to be held in March and April 2015. The SCE is a seven-member judicial body created by Article 228 of the Constitution and tasked with overseeing elections. The procedures of the elections they called for were based on three main electoral laws that were newly drafted in 2014, namely the Electoral Districts Law, the Council of Representatives Law (commonly referred to as Parliament’s Law), and the Law on Exercising Political Rights. In March 2014, the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) declared Article 3 of the Electoral Districts Lawunconstitutional. Less than a week later, the SCC also held Article 8 of the Council of Representatives’ Law unconstitutional insofar as it forbade dual citizens from running as candidates. In response, the president requested the government to prepare amended drafts of the relevant laws by April 2015. The Amendments, however, were not completed until the end of July 2015.
The New Amendments on Elections Laws
Constitutionality Amendments The July Amendments to the elections laws came to address the SCC’s decisions. In order to account for the unconstitutionality of Article 3 of the Electoral Districts Law, the number of districts had to be increased and the districts had to be redistributed. This was done by amending Article 2, resulting in an increase in the number of electoral districts dedicated to individual seats from 237 to 250. Additionally, the districting schedule appended to the law was changed to reflect the newly redistributed districts. To that end, Articles 1 and 3 of the Council of Representatives Law were also amended to increase the overall number of representatives from 540 to 568. It also increased the number of seats dedicated to candidates running as individuals from 420 to 448. Article 8 of the Council of Representatives Law was also amended to no longer restrict eligibility for candidates with exclusive Egyptian nationality. Other Major Amendments The most notable amendments were made to the Law on Exercising Political Rights, although it was not found unconstitutional by the SCC. For instance, significant changes were made to Article 2, which pertains to the categories of citizens who are temporarily prohibited from exercising their political rights. The Article prohibits any person who has been convicted of committing a specific list of crimes from exercising their rights. The Amendments prolonged the duration of the prohibition from 5 to 6 years. Furthermore, the Amendments stipulated that persons convicted of evading taxes through a final decision of the criminal court will also be subject to the same prohibition. Prior to the amendment, only those whose convictions were upheld by the Court of Cassation, the highest judiciary body in Egypt, were subjected to the prohibition. These can be seen as positive alterations that serve to impede candidates with criminally questionable backgrounds from easily being in positions of power. Additionally, there is a general prohibition on revising the voters’ database once voters have been called for election. The only exception includes any court-mandated revisions or if it were for the purposes of omitting the names of the deceased, as long as that occurred at least 15 days prior to election day. The Amendments omitted the phrase that necessitated the 15-day requirement, which means that the voters’ database can be altered at any time before the elections. On the one hand, this could lead to a voters’ database that more accurately reflects reality. On the other, it could allow for last minute manipulation of the database that would be more difficult to detect before elections day. Lastly, Article 33 necessitated that media outlets licensed to work in Egypt broadcast or publish any polls related to elections in accordance with “professional standards”. It also prohibited them from publicizing any polls related to the elections during the three days prior to Election Day. The Amendments expanded these regulations to include any organization licensed to work in Egypt. It also expanded the 3-day publication ban to apply on anyone who publicizes their polls during that time. Minor Amendments There were, however, further amendments that were not contingent on the SCC’s decisions. Some of them were incidental such as amendments to Article 25 of the Law on Exercising Political Rights, which increased the electoral campaign-financing cap for party-lists that are allotted 15 seats from 1 million to 2.5 million and added a cap to party-lists that are allotted 45 seats at 7.5 million. Conclusion On the 31st of August, it was officially announced that parliamentary elections are to be held in October and November of this year (2015). As of to date, the new Parliament will be constituted of 596 seats, 448 of which will be elected through competition over individual seats, 120 will be elected through a closed list system, while 28 members will be appointed by the president. The former unconstitutionality of some of the elections laws’ articles, as declared by the SCC decisions in March 2015, has been corrected by legislative amendments that were finalized in July 2015. These changes must be read together with the Government’s declared commitment to hold elections before the end of 2015.   [1] Supreme Council on Elections Decision No. 65/2015 on Elections Announcement, Official Gazette, Issue No. 35 (bis)., 31 August, 2015. [2] Supreme Council on Elections Decision No. 67/2015 on Accepting Nominees, Official Gazette, Issue No. 35 (bis)., 31 August, 2015.