Egypt’s 2025 senate elections sees record low 17% turnout

Egypt faced a 17% turnout in a record low for the country’s first round of Senate elections, displaying a severe lack of interest by the Egyptian public in the outcome of the election.

According to The North Africa Post, on August 13th, Egypt’s National Election Authority (NEA) announced a 17.1 percent voter turnout in the 2025 Senate elections, with 195 of the 200 contested seats decided in the first round.

Egypt’s Senate is made up of 300 seats, but only 200 are elected positions; the other 100 will be appointed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Half of the elected seats are individual races, with the other 100 seats contested by 13 political parties in “The National List for Egypt.’

Hazem Badaway, the Chairman of the NEA, says that only 11.8 million ballots were cast out of 69.3 million eligible voters, with 95.6 percent of the votes cast deemed to be valid. The election results were effectively decided before it even began, with The National Unified List, the sole closed party list in the race, winning decisively in all four constituencies. Once the party passed the required vote threshold, they secured their share of seats without opposition.

For the 100 seats elected directly, 95 were chosen in the first round, with 5 heading to runoffs in a few weeks’ time. Ten candidates are expected to compete to fill the remaining seats across the governorates of Gharbia, Beni Suef, New Valley, Luxor, and Ismailia. Overseas voting for the runoffs will take place on 25–26 August, followed by domestic voting on 27–28 August, with final results due on 4 September.

The Senate is largely seen as symbolic by the Egyptian public, with the lower chamber of the House of Representatives having far more legislative power. The 17% turnout among the electorate was also reflected by the sparse attention paid by the media despite active campaigning from candidates.

The country continues to face restrictions on political freedom, even with government-led initiatives to engage the political opposition in Egypt; the country is known to have political prisoners. In early 2025, it was reported that an eighth political prisoner had died due to medical negligence in the span of two months.

With 70-year-old President Al-Sisi being reelected in December 2024 for a third term-on a shockingly high 97% of ballots no less-and the numerous risks that come with political expression in Egypt, it may not be surprising that citizens would disengage from politics.

The next test of public opinion will come later this year, with more parliamentary elections scheduled for November to elect the House of Representatives.

The North Africa Post, Maghrebi.org