At stake in this Referendum:

• Approval of a set of amendments to 34 articles in the Constitution

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: President Mohamed Hosni MUBARAK
• Head of Government: Prime Minister Ahmed NAZIF
• Assembly: Egypt has a bicameral Parliament consisting of the Advisory Council (Majilis Al-Shura) with 264 seats and the People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Sha'b) with 454 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 6-year term.*
• The Prime Minister is appointed by the president with approval of the parliament.
• In the Advisory Council (Majilis Al-Shura), 176 members are elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve 6-year terms and 88 members are appointed by the president to serve 6-year terms. In the People's Assembly (Majlis Al-Sha'b), 444 members are elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve 5-year terms and 10 members are appointed by the president to serve 5-year terms.**

* A national referendum in May 2005 approved a constitutional amendment that changed the presidential election to a multicandidate popular vote. Previously, the president was nominated by the People's Assembly and the nomination was validated by a national, popular referendum. Candidates may run with a party or as independents. Each registered political party is allowed to field a candidate if they have been licensed for at least five years and hold at least five percent of the seats in the lower and upper houses of parliament. In order to qualify as an independent, potential candidates must collect 250 signatures from elected officials. These officials can be from both the national and municipal level.

** Every district contains two seats and electors are given two votes. At least one seat in each district is reserved for a worker or farmer. If no candidate receives an absolute majority in the first round, a second round is held one week later. This round will contain the top 4 vote-getters, provided 2 are workers and/or farmers. If the two top candidates in the first round are not workers or farmers, the top candidate is elected, while a new simple majority poll is held a week later among the top workers and farmers.

Main provisions in the Referendum:

• Referendum to approve a set of amendments to 34 articles in the Constitution This referendum asks voters to approve amendments to 34 articles in the Constitution aimed, among others, at:
  - Banning those political activities or the establishment of those political parties that are based on religion, race or ethnicity;
  - Increased powers for the President of the Republic to allow him to dissolve parliament and end judicial monitoring of elections;
  - Adoption of a new anti-terrorism law to replace the current state of emergency law.

Electoral Requirements

• A majority of votes cast is required in order for the referendum to pass.

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 78,866,635 (July 2009 est.)
• Registered Voters: 35,865,660 (March 2007)

Gender Data:

·         Female Population: 38,472,775 (2007)

·         Is Egypt a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (16 July 1980)

·         Has Egypt ratified CEDAW: Yes (18 September 1981)

·         Gender Quota: Yes

·         Female candidates in this election: Yes

·         Number of Female Parliamentarians: 9 (following the 2005 elections)

·         Human Development Index Position: 108 (2014)

·         Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Very High (2014)

Disability Data:

·         Is Egypt a signatory to CRPD: Yes (4 April 2007)

·         Has Egypt ratified CRPD: Yes (14 April 2008)

·         Population with a disability: 11,829,995 (est.)