Egypt's Supreme Presidential Elections Commission (SPEC) decided Monday to refrain from announcing the final vote count of Egyptian expatriates in Saudi Arabia, Ahram Online reported Tuesday. The commission announced its reservations over the results collected from the Egyptian Embassy in Riyadh and the Jeddah consulate following complaints by campaign representatives of presidential contenders, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and Khaled Ali. Both claim their supporters were obstructed from voting. A representative of candidate Mohammed Mursi, expected to win a majority vote in Saudi Arabia, objected to the decision by the SPEC to delay announcing the final results. SPEC Secretary General Hatem Bagato explained late Monday that in light of the reported violations by the Riyadh and Jeddah electoral committees, the final result could not be announced. He stressed the importance of receiving the necessary documents detailing the reported infringements so an investigation could be carried out. The commission has called on the Egyptian foreign ministry to present it with all the necessary documents as soon as possible, as the final results are expected to be announced for the first round of elections on May 29. There are between 6.7 million and 10 million Egyptians living and working abroad, according to the latest estimates. Of those, approximately 587,000 around the world have registered to vote in Egypt's first post-Mubarak presidential elections. Over 50 percent of them (300,000) live in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, the large number of Egyptian voters undecided between candidates touting radically different futures for the country, and the novelty of a free presidential vote make the election almost impossible to call, pollsters say. The candidates, from Islamists to former members of ousted Hosni Mubarak's regime, have seen their fortunes swing wildly in almost weekly polls conducted by a government funded think tank and an independent survey center. But even support for the leading candidate in a May 16 poll, former premier Ahmed Shafiq, is dwarfed by the large number of undecided voters who may tip the election's result in another candidate's favor, said a prominent pollster.
