Strong turnout in Egyptian elections

CAIRO, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Strong turnout was reported in the second phase of voting in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, officials said.

More than 3,000 candidates are competing for 180 seats. Sixty of the seats will go to a single winner and 120 will be proportionally allocated to party lists, the Cairo newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported Wednesday.

The government said 18.7 million Egyptians are eligible to vote.

The High Elections Commission, however, has postponed voting for list-based seats in the second constituencies of both Beheira and Sohag, until next week because of ballot issues.

Islamists won 60 percent of parliamentary posts in the first of three rounds of national elections.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party issued a statement Wednesday praising high voter turnout, saying it "proves that the Egyptian people are keen to defend their right to democracy and to conclude the electoral process in a way that can put us on the path of democratic transition."

The government said 39 voting stations in Aswan, Bahrain, Sharqiya, Monufiya and Sohag opened late, Ahram Online reported.