Four small legal opposition parties won five seats between them and seven went to independents who are not affiliated with the Brotherhood.

Most of the seats in the run-off will be contested by candidates of President Mubarak's NDP, which fielded more than 800 for parliament's 508 seats.

Egypt's largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood, dismissed the results, which accounted for 43 percent of parliament's 508 seats. The rest will be decided in runoffs on Dec. 5, but the fundamentalist Brotherhood expects to be almost entirely swept out of parliament by what it said was rampant rigging, intimidation and vote-buying -- allegations echoed by rights groups.

That would be a huge blow to the most powerful opposition force, which shocked the ruling National Democratic Party in the last election in 2005 by winning 88 seats, or a fifth of parliament. A sustained government crackdown has since weakened the group, which is outlawed but fields candidates as independents.

 We will not allow anyone to tempt us into breaking the law. The crimes committed by the regime clearly reflect its weakness and confusion. ... Whatever is built on falsehood is false. The election is invalid 

Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie

Election officials said turnout was 35 percent of the country's 40 million eligible voters, out of 80 million people.

The Brotherhood, the only serious opposition force in the country, registers its candidates as independents to circumvent a ban on religious parties.

Human rights groups say Sunday's vote was marred by widespread violence and fraud, and the White House expressed disappointment at the way the election was conducted.

The Brotherhood fielded 130 candidates, compared with about 800 for the NDP, after more than a dozen were disqualified and at least 1,200 supporters arrested.

The group had already denounced the election as "rigged and invalid."

Egypt's electoral commission dismissed the claim.

"The commission categorically rejects the allegations that the election was marred by fraud," commission spokesman Sameh el-Kashef told a news conference.

"While the commission regrets that certain irregularities took place, it is satisfied with the fact that these irregularities did not impact on the transparency of the first round of the election," he said.

Kashef said that only 1,053 ballot boxes out of 89,588 had been discarded and put turnout at 35 percent.

 The numerous reported irregularities at the polls, the lack of international monitors and the many problems encountered by domestic monitors, and the restrictions on the basic freedoms of association, speech and press in the run-up to the elections are worrying 

White House national security spokesman Mike Hammer

Brotherhood leader Mohammed Badie said Mubarak's government had broken its promise to hold clean elections, but vowed his group would not resort to violence.

"We will not allow anyone to tempt us into breaking the law," he told a news conference. "The crimes committed by the regime clearly reflect its weakness and confusion. ... Whatever is built on falsehood is false," he added. "The election is invalid."

The head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, Hafez Abu Saada, had previously said voter turnout was no more than 15 percent.

Egyptian watchdogs monitoring the election and international rights groups reported deadly violence, vote rigging and the intimidation of opposition candidates, while Washington called reports of numerous irregularities "worrying."

"The United States is disappointed with the conduct during and leading up to Egypt's Nov. 28 legislative elections," said White House national security spokesman Mike Hammer.

"The numerous reported irregularities at the polls, the lack of international monitors and the many problems encountered by domestic monitors, and the restrictions on the basic freedoms of association, speech and press in the run-up to the elections are worrying," he added.

 Washington policy makers are concerned by what seems to be a deterioration in political liberties ahead of the first leadership succession in 30 years 

Michele Dunne, a former State Department diplomat

The ferocity of the crackdown on the Brotherhood could indicate a concern among authorities that uncertainty over Mubarak's continued grip on power could open the way for escalating dissent in a country with widespread poverty and increasingly vocal protests over food prices, unemployment and other economic hardships. Opponents say the ruling party aimed to sweep parliament to ensure it does not become a platform for dissent.

The group, founded in 1928, has been outlawed for more than 50 years, but its network of social services and participation in elections as independents has been largely tolerated by the government.

President Barack Obama's administration said Monday it was dismayed by reports of election-day interference and intimidation by security forces -- irregularities that call into question the fairness and transparency of the process.

Analysts say Obama's administration is focusing more on its key regional alley as it approaches a presidential election in 2011. Mubarak, 82, has yet to say whether he will run for another term.

"Washington policy makers are concerned by what seems to be a deterioration in political liberties ahead of the first leadership succession in 30 years," said Michele Dunne, a former State Department diplomat.

"There is concern that there is rising dissatisfaction among people in Egypt," said Dunne, a member of a group of U.S. foreign policy experts who consult with the Obama administration on policy towards Egypt.