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Last Stage of Egypt's Legislative Elections Ends

Posted on: Wednesday, 7 December 2005, 15:00 CST

Text of report in English by Egyptian news agency MENA

Cairo, 7 December: The last stage of parliamentary elections ended on Wednesday [7 December] after voters cast ballots in the last nine governorates joining the race.

As many as 242 candidates have competed for winning 121 seats up for grabs in 64 constituencies where the third and last run-off of the three-round elections was held.

Wednesday's elections were marred by violence, however, reported in a limited number of areas. An official security source said two people were killed after riots erupted in Sharqiyah, one of the nine provinces today holding the vote.

Still, 12 seats are at stake after the results of the elections were scrapped by a court ruling, and after voting was halted due to acts of violence in six constituencies.

Wednesday's deaths bring to four the number of people killed since the elections kicked off on 9 November and held in Egypt's 26 governorates. One man was killed in the first round and another in the second round which began on 20 November.

Several people, including 120 policemen securing the electoral process, were injured.

Voting was stopped in some areas due to violence blamed on supporters of candidates running on Islamist tickets, or after attempts to intimidate voters.

Thuggish acts were reported. More than six policemen were injured in the clashes. The nine governorates are Daqahliyah, Sharqiyah, Sohag, Kfar al-Shaykh, Damiatta, Aswan, the Red Sea, North Sinai and South Sinai.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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