The turnout in Egypt's first stage parliamentary polls reached 62 percent, Abdel-Moez Ibrahim, chairman of the High Judicial Elections Commission, announced on Friday evening.

Abdel-Moez Ibrahim (C), chairman of the High Judicial Elections Commission, speaks at a press conference in Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 2, 2011. The turnout in Egypt's first stage parliamentary polls reached 62 percent, Ibrahim announced on Friday evening.

Around 8.45 million out of the total 13.61 million legitimate voters cast their ballots, said Ibrahim at a press conference. The turnout was 62 percent, "the highest percentage Egypt has witnessed in the era of elections," he said, adding that it was beyond all expectations.

Previous estimates put the turnout of the polls' first round at 70 percent or above.

According to Ibrahim, there were some irregularities such as polling station propaganda, long queues of voters, late arrival of some judges and shortage of ballots, but these problems would be solved for the upcoming stages of the vote.

There were 7.93 million valid ballots and about half a million invalid ones in the first stage vote. About 10,000 judges monitored the voting process.

Ibrahim announced the names of independent candidates who needed to enter the run-off on Monday and Tuesday. According to the complex electoral system, if neither of the top two independent candidates contesting a seat wins half of the votes in their constituency, they would participate in the run-off.

The detailed results of the first stage of Egypt's People's Assembly polls was not announced on Friday evening as scheduled, but might be published on the website of the High Judicial Elections Commission on Saturday.

After announcing the names of candidates to enter the run-off, Ibrahim told reporters that the details would be published on the official website.

The announcement of the results has been delayed twice. It was initially scheduled on Wednesday but was delayed to Thursday and then to Friday, as the vote count was not completed.

On Monday and Tuesday, millions of Egyptians flocked to the polling stations in their first and historical legislative elections after former president Hosni Mubarak was forced out of power in February after 18 days of mass protests against his 30- year rule. The parliament was shortly dissolved by the supreme military council in power.

The 508-seat People's Assembly has 498 seats up for grabs, with 10 to be appointed by the president of the country. Some 50 parties and more than 6,000 independent candidates have contested the polls. The vote is held over three stages, each with a run-off one week after the vote. The whole process will end on Jan.10, 2012, and the final results will be announced by Jan.13.

The most promising parties include the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, who dominates the Democratic Alliance, the Salafist's Nour Party, a key member of the Islamic Alliance, and the Egyptian Bloc led by the Free Egyptians Party, and the liberal Wafd Party.

The People's Assembly will be in charge of forming a 100-member constituent committee to draft the country's new constitution, which will then be put to a referendum.

According to the timetable, the presidential polls will be held before June 30 next year.