Latest news with #SenateElections
Al-Ahram Weekly
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Explainer: What Egyptians abroad need to know about voting procedures in the 2025 Senate elections
Egypt's National Election Authority (NEA) issued its latest decision concerning the upcoming Senate Elections on Tuesday, detailing the official procedures for Egyptians living abroad to vote in the Senate elections. The decision outlines the procedures and conditions under which Egyptians residing abroad will cast their ballots in the 2025 Senate elections, in line with the timeline released by the National Election Authority (NEA). Applications for candidacy will be accepted from 5 to 10 July. The final list of candidates and their electoral symbols is scheduled for publication on 11 July in the state-owned Akhbar Al-Youm and Al-Gomhuria newspapers. Appeals against nominated candidates will be considered from 14 to 16 July, with the definitive list confirmed on 18 July—the exact date the official campaign period begins. The deadline for candidates to withdraw is 20 July. The period of electoral silence is set to begin on Thursday, 31 July. Egyptians abroad are scheduled to vote on Friday and Saturday, 1 and 2 August. To be eligible, a voter must be registered in the official database and hold a valid Egyptian national ID card or passport bearing their national ID number. These are the only two documents accepted for verifying identity. Voting is to be carried out by direct, general, and secret ballot. Polling abroad takes place at Egyptian embassies, consulates, or other locations determined by the NEA based on nominations from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Voting runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time in each host country, with a one-hour break. If voters remain in line at closing time, their names are recorded and they are permitted to vote. Candidates or list representatives may appoint one or more agents to represent them at overseas polling stations, provided the appointees are registered voters. Their names and assigned polling stations must be submitted to the NEA at least two days before the start of overseas voting. Voters with disabilities who are unable to mark the ballot physically may privately inform the head of the committee of their choices, which are then recorded. Fully veiled women are required to verify their identity with a female committee member; refusal to do so disqualifies them from voting, and the incident is documented in the official report. Each voter receives two ballots—one for individual candidates and one for party lists—and proceeds to a private area to mark their choices in secret. The votes are then folded and placed in the designated boxes, after which the voter signs or places a fingerprint beside their name in the register. At the end of each voting day, ballot boxes are sealed and stored under secure conditions and reopened the following morning under official supervision. Once voting concludes, each committee tallies the votes for individual candidates and lists separately, records the results, and sends all materials—including ballots, registers, reports, and appeals—in the first diplomatic pouch to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These are then forwarded to the committee overseeing overseas voting, which compiles a final report and integrates the results into the national count. Media outlets and accredited organisations may observe the voting, counting, and tallying processes following NEA regulations. Voting within Egypt will take place on 4 and 5 August. The final results are set to be announced on 12 August. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Yahoo
29-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State of Texas: Republicans announce campaigns, Democrats plot strategy for 2026
AUSTIN (Nexstar)– Texas lawmakers have more work to do with a special session now just weeks away. But the end of the regular session has also highlighted the work some lawmakers are doing to prepare for political campaigns leading up to the March 2026 primary elections. Among the changes coming at the Capitol, east Texas Senator Robert Nichols announced he will not run for reelection. Nichols has served in the Senate since 2007. In recent sessions, he's been known for occasionally breaking with fellow Republicans on votes, which has become rare in the GOP-dominated Senate. Moments after Nichols made his announcement, State Rep. Trent Ashby, R–Lufkin, announced he would run for the seat. Nichols plans to serve the remainder of his term, which ends in January. Nichols' announcement came a few days after Tarrant County Republican Kelly Hancock resigned from the Texas Senate. The move set the stage for Hancock to serve as interim State Comptroller when Glenn Hegar steps down next week to become Texas A&M System Chancellor. Governor Greg Abbott on Friday called a special election in November to fill the open District 9 seat. But the biggest campaign announcement of the week may have come from Senator Joan Huffman. The Houston Republican announced she will join the race for Texas Attorney General. Huffman is a former state prosecutor and also served as a district court judge. In this session, she chaired the Senate Finance committee and also served on the Senate Criminal Justice committee. Huffman will face fellow Senator Mayes Middleton in next year's Republican primary. Middleton announced in April that he would run, pledging $10 million of his own money to back his campaign. A third Republican candidate, Aaron Reitz, is also in the race. He recently left a role serving in the U.S. Justice Department. Current Attorney General Ken Paxton is not running for reelection. He is campaigning for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by John Cornyn. New polling from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas suggests that neither candidate is particularly popular with Texas voters. The poll of 1,200 registered voters was done between June 6 to June 16. One question in the poll asked if voters had favorable or unfavorable opinions of Cornyn and Paxton. The results showed 29% had a favorable opinion of Paxton, while 43% in the poll view him unfavorably. Cornyn's overall numbers in the poll showed 23% having a favorable opinion of the senator, with 46% giving him an unfavorable rating. Poll numbers like that are raising hopes for Democrats, who have not won a statewide election in Texas in more than 30 years. But it's not yet clear who will be on the ballot in next year's election. Former U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke has not shied away from politics despite three failed runs for office. The former U.S. Senate, presidential and gubernatorial Democratic candidate has spent most of his year racing around the state, holding town halls to discuss what issues matter most to voters. Now, he is also looking ahead to the 2026 midterm elections. In an interview, O'Rourke confirmed that a meeting took place between himself and top Texas Democrats U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin and former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, D-Dallas. He said the meeting was to look ahead to the midterms and decide which Democratic candidates should run for which offices. 'We don't lack Democrats who can run powerful, strong statewide races. My concern is making sure that everyone is in the right position,' O'Rourke said. 'If you have everybody clustered in a Senate primary, for example, well then who's going to run for governor, lieutenant governor, Attorney General?' Currently, only a few Democrats have declared candidacy for statewide office — State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, announced she would run for lieutenant governor earlier this year. NASA Astronaut Terry Virts also announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate, and East Texas Farmer Bobby Cole is running for governor. But the rest of the Texas Democratic bench has remained in place despite rumors surrounding their potential candidacies. O'Rourke's town halls suggest he may be pursuing statewide office in 2026, but he was not ready to announce anything just yet, staying focused on what he can do in this moment. 'If it makes sense to be a candidate … then I will. My only guiding principle, my north star, is what can I do now for this country in its moment of truth,' O'Rourke said. 'If that includes being a candidate at some point, I'm open to that.' His town halls are not just in big Democratic areas, but also in smaller, more Republican cities around the state, including places like Midland, Tyler and Beaumont. His message focuses on policies that may affect Texans, including increasing Medicaid access, keeping THC products legal, raising the minimum wage above $7.25 per hour and protecting abortion access for women. Asked if a Democrat taking back a state or federal office in Texas was more important, O'Rourke seemed to suggest the U.S. Senate race was top of mind as a way to counter the Trump administration. 'It's tough not to say that we need to do it all at the federal level. I really do think it's existential,' O'Rourke said. 'This idea of self government, it might really perish from the planet unless we stand up to take it back. And that means winning that seat in the Senate.' A Democrat has not won statewide in Texas since 1994, but O'Rourke has come the closest of anyone since. He lost the 2018 U.S. Senate race to Sen. Ted Cruz by roughly 2.5 points before failing to seek the Democratic nomination for president and losing the 2022 governor's race to Gov. Greg Abbott by nearly 11 points. Still, O'Rourke said Texas is misunderstood as a state, and a Democrat can win if they campaign on the issues that matter the most to Texans. 'The national media and the country at large have written us off as this red conservative state,' O'Rourke said. 'It is up to Democrats, even though the playing field is tilted against us, to go out there and seize that power by meeting with voters, by listening to them, by reflecting their values in the campaigns that we run.' After vetoing Senate Bill 3, which would have banned all THC in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott immediately moved to call a special session of the legislature, demanding lawmakers act swiftly to regulate hemp-derived THC. But Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who spearheaded the effort to pass SB 3, quickly responded in a news conference, saying he strongly disagreed with the governor's decision. The dispute sets up a political showdown between the state's two highest office holders. Abbott's veto pointed out that SB 3 would likely be tied up in court for years, preventing the state from taking action on the issue of protecting children from accessing THC products. He also listed a set of specific regulations that the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission already enforces on alcohol products, saying the legislature should consider those regulations in a special session. But Patrick doubled down, saying he sees the governor's move as a sign that Abbott wants to legalize marijuana for recreational use in Texas. He said the hemp industry is too big and extensive to regulate, and that banning the product is the best solution. 'I'm not mad at the governor, but I'm not going to legalize marijuana in Texas, and if people want to vote me out of office for that, so be it,' Patrick said. With the path forward unclear — regulation, ban or status quo — business owners in the hemp industry say the fight to stay afloat is not over. Chris Karazin is the CEO and founder of Carolindica, a hemp-derived THC vendor based in North Carolina. He said the company is an advocate for smart legislation surrounding THC products, based on science, and opposed SB 3. He called Abbott's veto a win for both the industry and the country, saying the ban would have pushed people off-market as it would not reduce demand. 'You can jumble it all under protect our children verbiage, but you are just taking options from people that want those options,' Karazin said. 'And let's be real, they're going to go find them somewhere else. You're just going to push them to an unregulated market.' Karazin opposed the total ban, along with Roger Volodarsky, the CEO and founder of Puffco, a company that makes vaping devices for cannabis products. Though Puffco does not sell any THC directly, he still said banning THC in a state as large as Texas would impact his business. Both Volodarsky and Karazin agreed with Abbott's calls for regulating the industry. 'Governor Abbott proposed some things that are just common sense regulations we can put out there, like lab testing, labeling, age restricted access … to make sure it's not getting in the hands of kids and the people who are using it are able to use safe product,' Volodarsky said. Some proposed regulations include banning smokable products — currently prohibited under the state's medical marijuana program — or banning THC products created synthetically, typically found in Delta-8. Volodarsky did not support banning smokable products. He said the effects of edible products take time to hit the body and take several hours to wear off. He said that taking away the option to inhale THC products is a matter of restricting personal freedoms above all else. 'I know that there's a lot of stigma around inhaling cannabis in general … but it is the fastest and most effective way to administer cannabinoids into the body, and I think people should have that as an option,' Volodarsky said. Karazin also opposes the idea of banning synthetic products, disputing the term synthetic and saying it has become weaponized to scare people. 'No matter how you frame this, all the cannabinoids … are natural to this plant. In order to extract them, you are using chemistry … using heat, pressure, etcetera,' Karazin said. 'The definition of the synthetic is an incredibly vague, and I would go so far as saying an arbitrary term.' In the special session, Karazin said he wants the product to be regulated, citing age restrictions and lab test to ensure quality and safety as well as clear labeling so people know what they are ingesting. He said he would even go as far to say that there should be a regulatory body overseeing THC products for the state, taking enforcement and regulation out of the hands of local law enforcement — something Patrick was concerned about. And what happens during session is a sign of what may be to come nationally, as Volodarsky sees the fate of the hemp industry in Texas as 'ground zero' for federal marijuana legislation. 'What's happening in Texas is a big fight between the stigma of cannabis and the community that's grown around it, and I think if Texas is able to flip and offer safe access to users, that is a great omen for the future of cannabis in the federal world as well,' Volodarsky said. Glenn Hegar has served at State Comptroller for more than 10 years. He's leaving that job behind for a new challenge. Next week, Hager will become Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System. While wrapping up his duties as Comptroller, which included certifying the budget passed by Texas lawmakers, Hegar has also been preparing for the transition to his new role. 'I've been in College Station, usually a couple days every week. I've probably been spending more time on that job than I have my current role,' Hegar said. 'Essentially, just visiting with staff, traveling our campuses across the state of Texas, trying to learn and ramp up, engaging in this transfer, in this transition to make sure I have my team in place, and making sure that it's just a another day at the office come July 1 when we make the transition. Affordability is one challenge for colleges around the country. Some Texans are forgoing higher education, in part because of the cost. Hegar said affordability is an important issue for A&M. 'Every single way that we can make affordability better for our students is a way that we can help them make sure they don't have debt, they have an opportunity in the beginning when they get a job, and making sure, not just that they enter college, they graduate college, have the affordability and also being able to obtain a job when they get out of school is all at the forefront,' Hegar said. In his final weeks on the job as Comptroller, Hegar certified the state budget. It comes at a time of economic uncertainty, with tariffs looming and military conflicts creating concern. Hegar expressed confidence in the Texas economy amid the uncertainty. 'You know, the first and foremost to realize is the state's Foundation is a very strong foundation in the state of Texas,' Hegar said. 'The direction of the Texas economy is strong. We have people that continue to move here every day. We have businesses that want to set up shop, businesses that want to move here. And so the trajectory is really strong, even though we don't know what's on the horizon globally today, tomorrow, and especially as we look off into the next year.' Looking back at his time as Comptroller, Hegar said he's proud of how the agency has evolved during his tenure. 'I think first and foremost is just driving a culture at the agency of customer service. Our job is the people of the state of Texas serving them, the taxpayers of the state of Texas, making sure that that culture in that agency, when someone reaches out to us for customer assistance, for help, that we are doing everything that we can, and using all modes of communication to make it easier for them,' Hegar said. 'The less time people are spending trying to figure out, how do they set up a business? How do they get their taxes filed? Those are things they can be doing to make real life impacts for their employees, for their coworkers, and making sure they're growing state economy, rather than worrying about, how do I do this and how do I do that? So that culture of customer service is first and foremost,' Hegar said. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the state budget bill into law Sunday, and tucked into a single paragraph in the 1,000-page document is a change sparked by two years of KXAN investigations into the Office of Attorney General's Crime Victims' Compensation Fund. New rules outlined in Senate Bill 1 revamp the OAG's measurement for how quickly it makes a first payment to a victim, ensuring more accurate reporting. There is also now a 90-day average benchmark for the agency to meet. EXPLORE KXAN's coverage of the Attorney General's Crime Victims' Compensation Fund Under the current system, KXAN discovered a flawed formula that makes it appear victims are paid far faster than reality. The CVC fund reimburses victims and their family members for costs resulting from violent crimes like aggravated and sexual assault, robbery and homicide. Victims can get assistance for medical expenses, attorneys' fees, childcare, lost earnings and more. The fund is meant to keep victims on their feet. Last fiscal year, it paid out more than $66 million. The fund is replenished mainly through court fees and federal grants. It is a 'last source of payment,' meaning other sources – like health insurance and workers' compensation – must be used first, according to the program's annual reports. Every year, the OAG submits performance measurements to the Legislative Budget Board and lawmakers showing how quickly it makes first payments to victims — measurements meant to inform lawmakers making budget decisions. KXAN began investigating the CVC fund in mid-May 2022. We soon found numerous victims and advocates who explained it was taking six months to a year to get a first payment on a claim. The victims described a tedious and tough-to-navigate application process that left them feeling retraumatized and exasperated. Meanwhile, the OAG's performance measurements showed victims were being paid in just over a month. The cause of the misleading measurement: a formula averaging victim claims with sexual assault examination reimbursements. Former AG official: skewed math obscures Texas victim compensation delays The formula is flawed because those two payments are processed very differently. Victim claims are submitted and handled by victims themselves or advocates. On the other hand, sexual assault examination claims are submitted by medical providers and reimbursed in less than a week, according to OAG data. Averaging the two claims together has skewed the data and made it appear that victim claims were paid months faster, on average, than reality. Under the new rules, the two types of claims will be measured separately. The new goal is to make a first payment to victims in less than 90 days, on average, and reimburse providers for sexual assault examinations in a week or less. The OAG's office did not respond to KXAN's requests for comment for more than a year. Attorney General Ken Paxton said nothing to us following a budget hearing in January. However, at a Capitol hearing, an OAG executive acknowledged the data discrepancies KXAN uncovered. 'Our numbers did not, I think, properly reflect the work that we were doing,' Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Josh Reno said. 'And, we want this body to understand exactly how long it's taking for us to pay separate categories of claims.' Another bill signed by the governor on Friday, HB 3745, will allow 'emergency' payments to be made if a victim will 'suffer undue hardship if immediate economic relief is not obtained.' That takes effect Sept. 1. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
17-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Georgia Republicans choose new Senate leaders to replace those seeking higher office
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Republican state senators chose new leaders Tuesday after rules required the chamber's former leaders to step down because they're running for higher office in 2026. Republicans, who hold a 33-23 majority in Georgia's upper chamber, nominated Sen. Larry Walker III of Perry as president pro tem and elected Sen. Jason Anavitarte of Dallas as majority leader. Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Macon stepped down as president pro tem, the second-highest ranking post in the Senate, because he's running for lieutenant governor. The full Senate will have to vote on whether to elect Walker when it next meets, which is scheduled to be in January, but Walker will win the office with the support of the majority party. Until then the office will be vacant. Anavitarte becomes the majority leader as of Tuesday because that post only requires a vote of Republicans. He had been the majority caucus chair. Like Kennedy, Sen. Steve Gooch of Dahlonega had to step down because he's running for lieutenant governor. Republicans enacted a rule that senators could not hold a leadership position and run for higher office after 2022, when then-President Pro Tem Butch Miller, a Gainesville Republican, ran for lieutenant governor while serving as the chamber's highest ranking member against Burt Jones, then a senator from Jackson who held no leadership position. Miller forced votes on a number of bills to try to appeal to Republican voters, making a number of senators uncomfortable, even though Miller and Jones did not come into open conflict on the Senate floor. Miller lost the Republican primary to Jones, who was elected lieutenant governor in 2022. David Shafer, who served as president pro tem from 2013 to 2018, voluntarily stepped down from the post when he made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor that year. Along with the lieutenant governor, Walker and Anavitarte will be steering a chamber where a large number of senators may be seeking higher office. Democratic state Sen. Jason Esteves of Atlanta is running for governor and Jones is expected to seek the Republican nomination to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp, who can't run again after two terms. Five senators have expressed interest in running for lieutenant governor, with Republicans Blake Tillery of Vidalia and Greg Dolezal of Cumming eyeing the GOP race along with Gooch and Kennedy. Sen. Josh McLaurin is running as a Democrat. Two Republicans are running for attorney general — Sens. Bill Cowsert of Athens and Brian Strickland of McDonough . And Democrat Emanuel Jones has announced he's running for Congress.
The Australian
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Australian
Pauline Hanson's One Nation claims fourth Senate seat in surprise election victory
Pauline Hanson has nabbed another Senate seat in NSW, taking One Nation's total to four senators – the highest since 2016 when the party won four seats in the Senate. Former hostage negotiator for the British Army, Warwick Stacey won the sixth Senate seat in NSW, as confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission on Friday, after the Coalition failed to win enough votes to secure a third seat. The remaining five seats were won by Labor's Tony Sheldon and Tim Ayres, Liberal senators Andrew Bragg and Jess Collins and Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. Senator-elect Stacey ran on policies calling for the end of 'out-of-control immigration' and the scrapping of net-zero targets. His win follows the surprise election of One Nation's Tyron Whitten in Western Australia, and the re-election of Malcolm Roberts in Queensland. The election result means the party has doubled its Senate representation from two to four, the same number of Senate seats held by the Nationals. The last time since One Nation had a record four seats in the Senate was following the 2016 double-dissolution election. Party leader Senator Hanson said May's poll was the best federal election result since the party's the 1998 election, following the party's formation in 1997. 'We actually were, I think, the only party that increased our vote in this last election right across the country, and it's about the best result that we've had since probably 1998, in votes,' she said. She credited One Nation's performance to its 'good common sense policies' and ability to hold the government to account. One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson said the party's May election performance had nabbed a 'historic' result. NewsWire / Martin Ollman However she said claims that One Nation are an 'extreme' party were 'ridiculous,' adding that unlike the Coalition, One Nation were able to push back against Labor on issues like migration and net zero. 'We're more of a centrist party than an extreme right. If you look at our policies. So it's about, you know, standing up for the Australian values … looking after the farming sector, industry, manufacturing, (a) cut back on immigration which is destroying home ownership in Australia,' she said. 'The trouble with the Coalition was they never pushed back. They couldn't state their case. They couldn't debate the issues with the Labor Party and their lies.' The final makeup of the 76-seat Senate has also revealed that Labor will hold a total of 28 positions, meaning that if the government can't achieve bipartisan support on Bills, it only needs the Greens to help pass legislation. In the last parliament Labor needed the support of both the Greens plus three cross benchers. The Coalition have won 26 seats, with the remaining six-member cross bench to be composed of David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell, Lidia Thorpe, Fatima Payman and Ralph Babet. Jessica Wang NewsWire Federal Politics Reporter Jessica Wang is a federal politics reporter for NewsWire based in the Canberra Press Gallery. She previously covered NSW state politics for the Wire and has also worked at and Mamamia covering breaking news, entertainment, and lifestyle. @imjesswang_ Jessica Wang
News.com.au
30-05-2025
- General
- News.com.au
Pauline Hanson's One Nation claims fourth Senate seat in surprise election victory
Pauline Hanson has nabbed another Senate seat in NSW, taking One Nation's total to four senators – the highest since 2016 when the party won four seats in the Senate. Warwick Stacey won the sixth Senate seat in NSW, as confirmed by the Australian Electoral Commission on Friday, after the Coalition failed to win enough votes to secure a third seat. The remaining five seats were won by Labor's Tony Sheldon and Tim Ayres, Liberal senators Andrew Bragg and Jess Collins and Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi. Senator-elect Stacey ran on policies calling for the end of 'out-of-control immigration' and the scrapping of net-zero targets. New South Wales senators have been decided. â€' AEC âœ�ï¸� (@AusElectoralCom) May 30, 2025 His win follows the surprise election of One Nation's Tyron Whitten in Western Australia, and the re-election of Malcolm Roberts in Queensland. The election result means the party has doubled its Senate representation from two to four. The last time since One Nation had a record four seats in the Senate was following the 2016 double-dissolution election. Prior to the AEC confirming One Nation's third Senate win, party leader Senator Hanson said the May poll had been the party's 'most successful regular federal election ever'. 'More Australians are standing with us. More voices in Parliament. More strength to fight for those who've been ignored for too long,' she posted on X. 'This isn't the end of the campaign. It's the beginning of a movement. 'Thank you to everyone who has helped One Nation secure this historic result.'
