#NoOneWent: Egyptians mock low turnout at elections
Blog: The poor showing at polls to choose Egypt's new parliament has prompted sarcasm and mockery on social media.
2 min read
20 Oct, 2015
Egyptians have posted sarcastic images and comments lampooning the elections [alAraby]
As Egyptians headed to the polls on Sunday and Monday to vote for a new parliament, it quickly became evident the turnout was even lower than many had expected.
In response to the poor attendance, Egyptians took to social media platforms to post sarcastic images and comments, lampooning the elections with the Arabic-language hashtag #NoOneWent.
"The High Elections Committee is bearing a large part of the brunt today for the low turnout because of its incoherent and unwarranted decision to ban hot pants from polling stations," tweeted one user, referring to the bizarre announcement last week that women wearing "booty shorts" would be barred from voting.
Social media users shared a meme of a pro-government TV host with an assembly of video game characters with the caption: "As you can see the number of voters is extremely large."
The same host recently used video game footage to depict Russian air raids against the Islamic State group in Syria.
One Twitter user poked fun at the Egyptian daily al-Gomhuria's headline on Monday, which read: Egypt amazes the world once again, the people defy terrorism and vote for MPs.
"When are we going to stop amazing the world? Enough already - we're fed up with amazing them," the user said.
Facebook users shared images of the long queue outside the grand opening of the first Dunkin' Donuts in Egypt earlier this month and joked it was longer than lines outside polling stations.
Others posted images of packed queues during the 2011 presidential elections and compared them with the deserted polling stations over the two days of voting.
"Maybe we should try turning the polling stations off and turning them back on again. Or maybe purify them with incense - maybe the bad guys have put the evil eye on them," jested one social media user.
The High Elections Committee has said that registered voters who do not show up to vote will be fined 500 Egyptian pounds ($63).
In response, one user said: "If the government collected the fines it would get rid of Egypt's national debt and pay for serious mega projects… but no one's going pay the fine."
"Guys I think we should re-do the elections in the UAE so the fans can attend," joked one social media user, referring to a recent football derby that was played in the UAE because football fans are banned from attending matches in Egypt.
In response to the poor attendance, Egyptians took to social media platforms to post sarcastic images and comments, lampooning the elections with the Arabic-language hashtag #NoOneWent.
"The High Elections Committee is bearing a large part of the brunt today for the low turnout because of its incoherent and unwarranted decision to ban hot pants from polling stations," tweeted one user, referring to the bizarre announcement last week that women wearing "booty shorts" would be barred from voting.
Social media users shared a meme of a pro-government TV host with an assembly of video game characters with the caption: "As you can see the number of voters is extremely large."
The same host recently used video game footage to depict Russian air raids against the Islamic State group in Syria.
One Twitter user poked fun at the Egyptian daily al-Gomhuria's headline on Monday, which read: Egypt amazes the world once again, the people defy terrorism and vote for MPs.
"When are we going to stop amazing the world? Enough already - we're fed up with amazing them," the user said.
Facebook users shared images of the long queue outside the grand opening of the first Dunkin' Donuts in Egypt earlier this month and joked it was longer than lines outside polling stations.
Others posted images of packed queues during the 2011 presidential elections and compared them with the deserted polling stations over the two days of voting.
"Maybe we should try turning the polling stations off and turning them back on again. Or maybe purify them with incense - maybe the bad guys have put the evil eye on them," jested one social media user.
The High Elections Committee has said that registered voters who do not show up to vote will be fined 500 Egyptian pounds ($63).
In response, one user said: "If the government collected the fines it would get rid of Egypt's national debt and pay for serious mega projects… but no one's going pay the fine."
"Guys I think we should re-do the elections in the UAE so the fans can attend," joked one social media user, referring to a recent football derby that was played in the UAE because football fans are banned from attending matches in Egypt.
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