Project Description
Democracy International conducted a comprehensive USAID-funded program to monitor elections and the political transition in Egypt from July 2013 until March 2016. DI maintained an in-country presence from December 2013 through early 2016 and organized comprehensive international missions to observe the constitutional referendum in January 2014, the presidential election in May 2015, and the House of Representatives elections from October to December 2015.
DI deployed 83 international observers to 24 of Egypt’s 27 governorates for the Constitutional Referendum; 88 international observers, including 12 medium-term observers for the Presidential Election; and 26 international observers, including six medium-term observers for the Parliamentary Elections. As a signatory to the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, DI conducted all three electoral observation missions in accordance with these principles. The observation mission was focused on all phases of these electoral processes, including the legal framework, political context, balloting and counting throughout the country, and adjudication of complaints.
For each of the observation missions, DI used innovative observation techniques, including a cloud-based data collection system on Google tablets that tracked map and time data and allowed flexibility and real-time data analysis not possible with paper observer forms. Periodicallly throughout the process and after each electoral event, DI’s mission released a statement and a comprehensive report, including an interim report after the court-ordered postponement of the parliamentary elections in the Spring of 2015 and a compilation of all DI statments and reports in April 2016.
DI concluded that in the years since President Morsi was removed from power, Egypt’s political system has become less inclusive and less democratic. Each of the electoral events took place against a backdrop of arrests, detentions, and the suppression of dissenting voices. Ultimately, a successful transition to democracy in Egypt will depend on meaningful opportunities for all political forces to participate peacefully in the political process.