Egyptians in 14 provinces cast votes in parliamentary runoffs

An Egyptian soldier stands guard as a voter leaves a polling station for the runoff to the first round of the parliamentary elections in Giza, just outside of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (The Associated Press)

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Egyptian election workers arrive inside a polling center before polls open, during the runoff to the first round of the parliamentary election, in Al-Haram in Giza, a neighboring city of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. The Great Giza Pyramid is seen at background left. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) (The Associated Press)

An Egyptian policeman carries boxes with ballots inside a polling center before the polls open, during the runoff to the first round of the parliamentary election, in Al Haram in Giza, a neighboring city of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty) (The Associated Press)

CAIRO – Egyptians are casting votes in parliamentary runoff elections in just over a half of the country's 27 provinces, including Cairo's twin city of Giza and the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria.

More than 200 of the legislature's 596 seats are up for grabs in the Tuesday-Wednesday balloting in 14 provinces.

The next parliament will be the first since a chamber packed with Islamists was dissolved in 2012 by a court ruling.

It is also the first parliamentary election since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, as military chief, led the 2013 overthrow of Egypt's first freely elected president, the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, following mass street protests against his rule.

Elections in the remaining 13 provinces will be held next month and the legislature is expected to hold its inaugural session in December.