Egyptians went to the polls in 13 of the country’s 27 provinces on Saturday in the second phase of an election for a parliament that is expected to be, like its predecessor, packed by supporters of the government. The 13 provinces in which the two-day voting is taking place include Cairo, the Nile-side Egyptian capital that is home to 20-plus million people and where thousands of giant campaign billboards have sprung up in recent weeks. Beside holding rallies, some candidates placed ads on social media networks. “This election is both an expression of freedom and a symbol of stability,” said Youssef Mahmoud, 75, after he cast his ballot in the crowded Boulaq Abul Ela district in central Cairo. Elderly and middle-aged men and women accounted for the majority of voters at polling centres, maintaining a trend that has dominated elections in recent years. The queues were short during the first hours of voting but were expected to grow later in the day. Polls opened at 9am and closed at 9pm. Police and election officials ensured that voters were wearing face masks. Fourteen provinces, including Giza, Cairo’s twin city, and the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, Egypt’s second largest, voted in the first phase of the election two weeks ago. Egyptians abroad voted by mail for three days before the start of the election’s two stages. Turnout in the first phase of the election <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/mena/only-28-per-cent-of-egypt-s-electorate-turn-out-to-vote-in-first-phase-of-elections-1.1103611">was 28 per cent</a> – nearly twice as high as for the senate election in August. The president appoints a third of the senate's 300 members. Run-offs for closely contested seats in the lower house, formally known as the House of Deputies, will be held later this month and in early December. President Abdel Fattah El Sisi will appoint 28 members of the chamber, which will begin its five-year term before the year’s end. Women will take up 25 per cent of the chamber’s 596 seats, in accordance with one of several constitutional amendments adopted in a nationwide referendum last year. Other changes included the restoration of an upper chamber with no legislative powers and allowing Mr El Sisi to seek another term in office when his current one expires in 2024. They also gave the president more control over the judiciary and the military a supreme political role. The new parliament, like its predecessor, is expected to offer the government near-unconditional support as it pursues a vigorous drive to overhaul the economy, maintain stability and press on with a construction boom. Ali Abdel Al, a constitutional expert and staunch supporter of Mr El Sisi, will most probably keep his job as the chamber’s speaker. Moreover, the new parliament is almost certain to have a small opposition bloc, roughly mirroring the two dozen members who sat in the outgoing house. Another voter, Samia Adel, said voting is a “real duty that is needed so that the country can continue to function”. Speaking before voting in the large middle-class neighbourhood of Shoubra in northern Cairo, the 41-year-old mother of four said: “We don’t need any more crises – people must come out and vote.”