Porn Is Being Blamed For People Not Voting In The Egyptian Elections

Young Egyptians did not vote in this week's parliamentary elections because they were too distracted by porn, according to a column by Dandarawy al-Hawary in the newspaper Youm7.

Egypt held elections on Sunday and again on Monday when government workers were given a half-day off in order to encourage voting following the low turnout on Sunday. Basically, nobody showed up.

There was an estimated 20 percent voter turnout for the election, compared to a 54 percent total turnout in the last parliamentary election held from late 2011 to early 2012.

Al-Hawary reportedly wrote,

It is the bitter truth that Egyptian society, across all its sectors, was more concerned with discussing pornographic films... and everyone forgot the most important parliamentary election in Egypt.

Porn has been in the news in Egypt this month. In an interview with the al-Qahira Waalnas TV channel, actress Entissar apparently encouraged young Egyptian men to go online and watch porn.

Now, she's set to appear in court for "inciting debauchery."

However, many young Egyptians would likely argue porn was not the reason they skipped the polls. It probably had more to do with a loss of faith in the political system. As a woman reportedly told Mada Masr,

Most people are staying away from the elections because they are fed up with the lack of change. There have been many elections and votes and referendums, but the conditions stay the same.

The hashtag محدش_راح#, meaning "no one went," trended on Twitter as the polls remained mostly empty Monday.

Through it all, typical Egyptian humor shone through the frustration.

Citations: Columnist says Egyptians prefer porn to politics (Reuters)