The committee charged with registering the Copts who are eligible to vote in the elections for the new patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church is studying the system of registering voters outside Egypt, and the possibility of extending the registration period
The committee charged with registering the Copts who are eligible to vote in the elections for the new patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church is studying the system of registering voters outside Egypt, and the possibility of extending the registration period.
Menassa Thabet, member of the committee for voter registration, said that the huge increase in the number of Copts in the Diaspora since 1957, the year the legal code for electing the patriarch was issued, poses a challenge and would require more time than the stipulated two-month-period. Many of these Copts live in parishes that are not dioceses and that are administratively under the direct charge of the acting patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church. This in itself poses a problem which needs to be tackled, since the registration of voters is done through the dioceses they belong to. Every diocese should be represented by 12 of its laity, with the exception of Cairo which is represented by 72 laypersons and Alexandria which is represented by 24. Eligible voters should over 35 years of age.
The registration of the increased numbers of Copts will take more than the two months stipulated by the legal code, Mr Thabet said. “Anba Morqos, Bishop of Shubral-Kheima and head the committee, intends to ask the Holy Synod to extend the registering period,” he said. The registration process should start on 1 May.
WATANI International
23 April 2012