Egypt's Low Turnout in Round One

What if they gave an election and nobody came? The first round of the first wave of Egypt's long-delayed Parliamentary elections brought an officially reported turnout of only 26.5% of voters. Now the first phase of elections involved only 14 governorates; the other nine will vote in November, including Cairo (though Giza, which is a major part of Greater Cairo, and Alexandria voted in round one). The turnout numbers, however, are based I believe on registered voters in those governorates that voted, not on totals. By contrast, turnout in he 2011 post-revolutionary elections was 64%. (On the positive side, nobody claims 99% turnouts anymore.)

Runoffs were taking place yesterday and today where needed, and it sounds as if turnoffs remain low, especially in Alexandria, suffering from serious flooding.