By: Kaitlyn Marshall
Produced & Edited by: Danielle Keeton-Olsen
Voting has become a right in many different countries around the
globe. As countries aim to be more representative in their politics, they must
also make sure that they have a set plan to keep things fair and honest at the
voting booth.
Egypt is no exception to these trials that naturally come about
when people are trying to exercise their newly found civil rights.
Voting in
Egypt has not always been an assumed right. In fact, it was only recently that
Egyptian citizens were able to let their voices be heard after years of not
being given a say in who ran their country.
After the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egyptians decided to adopt democratic elections in their
semi-presidential form of government. That meant that now, Egyptians would be
allowed to vote for their president as well as some of their parliamentary
members.
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| Women wait in line to vote for the referendum of constitutional amendments on March 19, 2011, one month after the overthrow of Mubarak (Photo via Wikimedia) |
Although voting has been off to a rocky start, now Egyptian women are being met with new problems that they never had in previous elections.
Sending women out of the polls
As Egyptians
everywhere were lining up to cast their second round of votes for parliament on
Nov. 21, some women were being turned away.
Women who are wearing a head
covering called a ‘Niqab’ that only shows the
eyes are being told they either have to take off the niqab, or not cast theirvote at all.
The niqab is a traditional Muslim garment that some women wear to
align with the religion’s stance on modesty by women. It is
usually long and black and covers a woman from head to feet with only a slit
showing for her eyes.
The Egyptian government says there is an identity issue
when it comes to the niqab, because poll workers can not see what the person
looks like to match them to their photo ID.
Some, like Egyptian citizen
Mithras, agree that this is just a matter of security. Mithras said, “It
obviously makes sense that they cannot vote while wearing it since there's no
way to tell if it's actually you or Vladimir Putin for example.”
And that’s
the stance the government is taking. Women must remove their niqabs while
voting if they want to have their vote be taken.
Restriction affects one religion
The niqab is not as commonly
worn as the hijab, a garment worn by Muslim women that shows the face but
covers the rest of the head, however there are still an unknown number of women
who do choose to wear the garment as a part of their religious practices.
This
is a problem only affecting Muslim women, providing yet another limitation to
their ability to vote.
Muslim men on the other hand aren’t required to cover
their faces and thus have no issues barring them from voting, however some men
are just as upset about the overall treatment of Egyptian women.
Reddit user
and Egyptian citizen HiddenBehindTheMask says, “To be completely
honest, I feel like Egypt is still no where near achieving equality. The way
Egypt treats women makes me ashamed”
and he isn’t alone in that sentiment.
As
HiddenBehindTheMask told me, “You shouldn't be denying anyone the
right to vote,” he
said “I genuinely don't think this will be enforced for voters
outside Egypt, so why enforce it inside Egypt?”
However some
did not agree with this.
Egyptian citizen Beshai thinks that women and men are
basically equal in their voting power and said women have “about
as much as the men” when it comes to voting power.
He was
not alone. Ginxez, another Egyptian citizen I spoke with, seemed to be extremely
happy that Egyptians were giving women and men equal right and access to vote
when he said “for once we did something right...both women and men are equal
in their voting powers!”
Little enthusiasm for first elections
The first round
of Egyptian elections for those within the country took place Oct. 17
and 18 while elections for those Egyptian citizens living outside of
Egypt took place Oct. 18 and 19.
There was not any word from other
officials about whether or not the niqab “ban” would be enforced for
those who were voting outside of the country.
Regardless of those who were
allowed to vote under numerous stipulations, after the first round of
parliamentary elections in the country, voter turnout was still at a low.
According UK wire service Reuters, the long-awaited elections were seen by manyas a “sham”
and that kept many people from coming out to vote.
Egyptian voter Shady
said it, “Can be summarized by both of your expression lack of
apathy,weird timing,”
He said, “and
lack of fundamental preparation for campaigns and awareness are crucial source
of confusion for the voters.”
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| A woman wearing a niqab protests former President Mubarak in Jan. 2011 (Photo via Wikimedia) |
Egyptian
citizen Enas El Masry said, “Egypt is very diverse in it’s
cultures especially across socio-econonomic classes.” This goes for
females as well who are wearing the niqab.
They are a diverse group of women with
different backgrounds and belief systems who are being forced to conform to one
type of Egyptian ideal that says you should be Muslim but only Muslim to a
certain extent.
While Egypt is not waging “war”
on women who wear the niqab, there is still a definite divide among men
and women who are voting in these parliamentary elections. It is not only that
but a sign of larger problems within a state where women are fighting for
political representation.
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