Egyptians begin third round of voting

CAIRO, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The third and last round of voting for the Egyptian parliament begins Tuesday, with elections being held in nine governorates.

In the third round of voting, 2,754 candidates are vying for 150 People's Assembly seats, Egypt's lower house of Parliament, al-Masry al-Youm reported.

If needed, runoffs will be Jan. 10-11, election officials said.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party and the Salafi-led Nour Party claimed the most seats in the first two rounds of polling.

The governorates voting Tuesday included the Brotherhood strongholds of Gharbiya and Daqahliyya, The New York Times reported. Observers said the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party started the day with about 50 percent of the parliamentary seats awarded in the first two rounds of the vote and could move closer to winning a controlling majority in the lower house.

Yousry Abdel Karim, chief of the High Judicial Elections Commission's technical bureau, said the commission hopes to avoid flaws that surfaced in the first two rounds.

Moderate turnout had been reported, the commission said.

Voting irregularities have been reported, with One World Institution and Human Development Organization saying their observers saw names of deceased citizens on electoral rolls in North Sinai.

In their report, the organizations said the presence of the dead on voter rolls "raises questions on the method, mechanism and regulations involved during voter registration."

Other issues, such as judges not being at their posts and electioneering too close to polling places were reported, al-Masry al-Youm said.

Voters also complained about the uneven distribution of voters to precincts, saying some polling stations had only dozens of registered voters while others had thousands.

Egyptian officials closed the North Sinai Rafah crossing to Gaza for the two days of elections. An official said the crossing would reopen Thursday.