Voting is under way in the first stages of the Egyptian parliamentary elections. Polling stations in the capital Cairo reported a trickle of voters as the doors opened on Wednesday morning.
The ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) is expected to win a large majority of the seats – it currently has 85 per cent of the seats in parliament.
However, opposition parties have been campaigning hard because under Egyptian rules, they need to hold at least 23 seats to have the right to field a presidential candidate.
In the first stage of the elections voters in Cairo, the central provinces and two remote areas will choose between 1,500 candidates competing for 164 of the 444 elected seats in the lower house of parliament.
Other parts of the country will vote on November 20 and December 1, with second-round run-offs six days later.
A low turn out is expected, despite street protests and measures such as see through ballot boxes, which are aimed at reassuring voters that the elections will be free and fair.
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