Initial Report on the Egyptian Presidential Election
from the Women’s Forum for Change:

Using poor and illiterate women to rescue President Mobarak’s campaign

(September 7, 2005) The Women’s Forum for Change, a project of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights, assembled, trained and deployed election monitors stationed at polling places to observe and receive news and complaints on voting proceedings and actions within the women’s committees during Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential election. A hotline was also established to receive calls and complaints. Reports included:

NDP’s use of poor women’s votes:

Mubarak’s NDP party (El Watany), systematically used large numbers of poor women heads of household for their votes. These women were assembled by the NDP and bussed to polling places where they were pressured to cast votes for Mubarak. Initial reports include complaints from Giza, El Manial, El Haram, El Basateen, Tura, Dar El Salaam, El Tbeen, El Moneb, Mayo, El Sharabia, Helwan, Nasr City, Benha, and in the governorates of Tanta and Asseuyt. These reports were confirmed by our observation of exceptionally large numbers of women gathered to vote in certain polling places where as in others, women’s turnout was very low.

NGO’s use own resources to round-up beneficiaries to vote for the NDP:

Some NGOs participated in helping the NDP in their effort, playing key roles in assembling their women beneficiaries and pressuring them to vote for Mubarak. This was done using the NGOs’ resources, cars and buses. NGOs that participated in using their resources to collect votes for Mubarak include:

Abou El Enan Charity Association, Giza
Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women (ADEW), El Manial
Charity Sahary Association, Tura

Illegal pressuring of women and fraud at polling places:

The following illegal acts were reported:

· Although campaign materials are forbidden inside polling places, posters for the NDP’s candidate, Mubarak, were placed in the women’s section of the voting area in most stations.

· NDP representatives illegally accompanied women inside the voting booths to make sure that they voted for Mubarak. If women hesitated in choosing Mubarak, the NDP representative made the mark for her.

· In many stations, only women who supported the NDP were allowed to enter the voting area.

· In Dar Elsalam, Elbasateen, Elmaadi, Tura, Elmassara, Hadaek Helwan and El Saaf some women supporters of the NDP kept a record of women voters with their personal data and after ensuring they cast their vote for the NDP candidate, they gave them gifts, meals or money.

· Some polling places did not establish a separate area for women, preventing many women from voting in El Tbeen, Benha, El Haram

· The police sexually harassed or abused women supporters of Ayman Noor, the candidate from El Ghad party, close to the voting area.

· Abuse of women participants in Kefaya demonstrations was also reported.

· Voting cards for some women were issued the same day from El Omrania police station, against established election regulations.