Egyptian parliamentary elections to the House of Representatives were held in two phases, from 17 October to 2 December 2015.^[1] The elected parliament will be entrusted with the task of reviewing the laws that were passed while a parliament was not in session.^[2]

Quick Facts 568 of the 596 seats in the House of Representatives 299 seats needed for a majority, Turnout ...

2015 Egyptian parliamentary election

← 2011–12 17 October – 2 December 2015 2020 →
568 of the 596 seats in the House of Representatives 299 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	28.27%
First party Second party Third party   Leader Essam Khalil Mohamed Badran El-Sayyid el-Badawi Party Free Egyptians Nation's Future New Wafd Alliance FLE FLE FLE Last election 15 – 38 Seats won 65 53 36 Seat change 50 New 2   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Galal Haridy Hazem Omar Omar El-Mokhtar Semeida Party Homeland Defenders Republican People's Congress Alliance FLE Egyptian Front FLE Last election – – – Seats won 18 13 12 Seat change New New New
Speaker of the House before election Vacant Elected Speaker of the House Ali Abdel Aal FLE

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In preparation for the election, security was tightened across the country with at least 185,000 troops supporting police, president Sisi made a televised appeal for Egyptians to vote, and in mid-October, public sector employees were given half a day's holiday to encourage them to take part. The strikingly low turnout, in some areas close to only 10%, with "many angry at the government and its policies", was widely regarded as a set-back for the administration and a success for calls to boycotts from oppositional movements.^[3]

The parliament is made up of 596 seats, with 448 seats elected through the single member districts, 120 elected through party bloc vote in which party list should win 50%+ votes to win all seats however if no list achieved the threshold, a second round held between top two parties and the list with the most votes wins. Party list contain quotas for youth, women, Christians, and workers. Single member districts consists of 1-member district, 2-member districts, 3-member district and 4-member districts, winner should win 50%+ of the votes, if no one achieved the threshold a second round held between top candidates (candidates number should be the double of contested seat number) and the candidate with the most votes wins. In addition, 28 are selected by the president.^[4] The government commission that set the rules for the 2015 parliamentary elections drastically reduced the number of "list seats" (candidates who shared party affiliations or other alliances, and whose ranks had to include people under the age of thirty-five, women, Christians, and other traditionally underrepresented groups) from the 2011 election."^[5]

On 16 September, the High Elections Committee announced the initial list of accepted candidates. While nine electoral lists were accepted, five more lists were rejected, including two of the three lists of the Egypt coalition (Egyptian Front & Independent Current Coalition) as well as the lists of Upper Egypt's Voice, Call of Egypt and Knights of Egypt.^[12] After appealing to court, all rejected lists but the one by Upper Egypt's Voice were admitted. The final list of candidates for the first phase was announced on 28 September.^[6]

A total of 7 electoral lists are contesting the 120 fixed-list seats available in the four regional constituencies:

In the first phase, 2,573 individual candidates contested in 226 individual seats. Many parties are fielding individual candidates both on joint electoral lists and contesting the list-based seats.^[6]

A number of parties boycotted the election, claiming that the process was unfair. These included the following:

• Bread and Freedom Party^[17]
• Building and Development Party^[18]
• Civil Democratic Current (withdrew from the election for lack of funds)^[19]
• Freedom Egypt Party^[17]
• Homeland Party^[20]
• National Conciliation Party (withdrew from the election)^[21]
• Reawakening of Egypt (will not participate in the election)^[22]
• Revolutionary Socialists^[23]
• Social Justice Coalition (chose not to participate in the election)^[24]
• Strong Egypt Party^[17]
• Al-Wasat Party^[25]

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• Refrain from using vague designations
• It is strictly forbidden to ask voters who they will vote for
• It is forbidden to conduct polls and surveys in front of polling stations
• It is forbidden to phrase questions in a way that encourages a particular response
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