Parliamentary candidates in the Red Sea resort town of Hurghada reportedly had to pay prospective voters as much as LE500 per vote in Sunday’s election runoffs.
While still a much higher price than those paid in the first round last week, it still did not break the record price of LE700 per vote that was reported in 2005 parliamentary elections.
Yet despite the high prices, voter turnout in Hurghada remained relatively low–perhaps due to voters who hoped to push per-vote prices up even further.
Wafd Party candidate Rami Lakkah reportedly paid LE300 per vote in northern Cairo's Shubra district, while Fadi al-Habashy and Reda Wahdan each paid LE200 per vote.
Other candidates reportedly raised their price offers from LE50 to LE70 per vote after they noticed that voters were refraining from casting ballots.
Voters for Heshmat Abu Hagar, candidate for the ruling National Democratic Party, for their part, complained that they had not yet received payment after voting for their candidate.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
