Election authority looking into fining eligible Egyptians who refused vote

CAIRO: Egypt’s National Election Authority is looking into the possibility of imposing a fine on eligible voters who abstained from voting in the recent presidential election.
Local newspapers were reporting on Wednesday that the authority is contemplating enforcing the provisions of a law to impose LE500 ($28) on eligible voters who refrained from casting their ballots.
It also renewed calls on Egyptian people to take part in the election and “practice their free choice,” a report by Al-Masry El-Youm said.
The authority explained that they will implement the provisions of Article 43 of Law No. 22 of 2014 on the Regulation of the Presidential Elections, which stipulates: “A fine not exceeding five hundred pounds shall be imposed on any person whose name is listed in the database of registered voters and fails to vote in the presidential elections without an excuse.”
Meanwhile, its been reported that the governor of Egypt’s New Valley will allocate LE15 million for the top five villages with the highest voter turnout in the elections.
Mohamed Zamlout said these funds will be dedicated to implementing service projects to meet the demands and needs of the residents.
The first village will receive LE5 million, provided that 75 percent of its eligible voters will cast their vote. While the second village will be allocated LE4 million, and so on.
As voting went into the third and final day on Wednesday, turnout was seen as the critical factor in the election.
Two sources monitoring the election, including one from the National Election Commission, said about 13.5 percent of 59 million eligible voters had cast ballots on Monday.